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Fifteen Years Behind ttje Curtains. 



Embodying a Personal Experience of so 
many years in the 




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BY 



REV. J. DONNELLY, 



Author of 



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'* The Faith Once Delivered unto the Saints," 
** Letters to the Pope," etc., etc. 



Pittsburg, Pa. 
1896. 



OF Cmmmm 







Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1896, by 
J. Donnelly, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Wash- 
ington. 




DEDICATION. 



To all who have the moral courage to express their 
thoughts and sentiments about religion; to all who reverence 
the written word of God, the Bible, and hold it above the 
traditions of men ; to all who humbly desire to know the 
truth and stand fast in the liberty wherein Christ has made 
us free, 

This book is respectfully dedicated by the 

AUTHOR. 



CONXeiSLTS. 



Chapter. Page. 
Preface 5 

Introduction 9 

1. Why I Left the Roman Catholic Church 15 

2. Renoucing Romanism 28 

3. Sample ot Some Letters 44 

4. Scripture and Koman Catholic Doctrine 49 

5. What Priests Love Most 59 

6. What Priests Love Most (Continued) 67 

7. Life of the Priest. 71 

8. Priests and Females 77 

8. Monks and Nuns 84 

10. Monks and Nuns (Continued) 90 

11. Dark Crimes the result of the Confessional 95 

12. Celibacy and Purity 102 

J2. Illegitimacy Ill 

II. Morality of Roman Catholic Church 120 

J5. Roman Catholic Theology 128 

16. Indulgence 134 

17. Scapulars, Candles, Holy Water and Vestments 141 

18. The Jesuits 146 

19. The Church's Curse 155 

20., Inquisition 163 

21. The Roman Catholic Church and Science 173 

22. Origin of Roman Catholic Church 184 

23. The Popes 191 

24. Ignorance the Mother of Devotion and the Virgin Mary 197 

25. Rome's Loyalty to American Institutions 205 

26. Priests' Conversation with Females in the Confessional 212 

27. An Appeal to My Roman Catholic Friends 221 

28. How to Convert Roman Catholics 229 

29. Female Popes .-rrr^ 236 

30. Questions Unanswered 241 



PKEFACE. 

Of the infinite variety of subjects which are con- 
stantly before the minds of the people, none are claiming 
more attention than that which relates to the Clhristian re- 
ligion, and notably that phase of it which, in particular, 
refers to the Roman hierarchy. So much indeed is being 
spoken and written about it, that our country at least may 
be said to be in a fair state of agitation on the subject. Nor 
is the subject left wholly to churchmen. Literary men 
of "v\dde fame in other professions are writing startling 
and pungent articles on the above theme. The fact that 
much of what is written is done so in a denunciatory and 
derogatory vein, and is intended for the eyes and ears of 
those who are ready to overthrow and despoil the papacy 
if possible, does not lessen interest in the subject. 

In all this literature several things are clearly mani- 
fest. It is undeniably and religiously true that the doc- 
trines and devotees of Rome are a serious menace to our 
country and its free institutions. And yet it is hard to 
arouse the people to the point of realizing this alarming 
truth. We have an overweening confidence in the pro- 
tection of Providence. This slothfulness, this overween- 
ing confidence is Rome's opportunity. I suppose there 
has never been an hour in the history of Christianity in 
the United States when the people would not rally, if 
they really began to fear that civil or religious liberty 
^eve in any wise imperiled. But the idea of associating 
the peril and possible losing of oar free institutions with 
the growing power of Romanism, does not seem as yet to 
appeal to the people with any degree of clearness. 

Another injuring phase of Romanism is its hypoc- 
risy. Here is a church calling herself the only and true 
•church. She professes to be anxious to make people 
true Christians. She claims to be the mother of civiliza- 
tion. She professes to revere and love the Bible, which, 
the philosopher, John Locke, says, "has God for its au-* 



6 Preface. 

thor, and truth without mixture of error for its matter, 
and salvation for its end." But what is the truth in the 
matter ? For centuries she has acted as if she thoufifht 
that ignorance is the mother of devotion, and the less of 
general intelligence and civilizing influences the better 
for the priesthood and the church. Spain, Mexico, Bra- 
zil, Italy — all are alike in regard to education and civiliza- 
tion, or lack of them, and show the hypocritical part 
Rome is playing upon her children. Her teachings con- 
cerning the confessional, purgatory, the celibacy of her 
priests, together with her easy attitude toward the sa- 
loon and other public evils, show the truth of this. 

However, these phases of Rome are but lightly 
touched upon in this volume. What is written is given 
particularly and especially for Romanists. The author 
was for many years one of her priests, and knows whereof 
he speaks. He knows that the strength of Rome is in 
the belief of her people. He is a man of strong sym- 
pathies and tender spirit. Moreover, he is a man of 
more than ordinary intelligence, and writes with won- 
derful and comprehensive clearness. He has been be- 
hind the scenes, and knows right well what is going on 
among the shifting scenes, the dusty flies and dingy 
rooms of all this grand ecclesiastical pageantry. Speak- 
ing from practical experience, he is well fitted to wrjte 
to those from out of whose ranks he came. Not to ma- 
lign, to asperse, to discredit the church or her oflScials, 
but to enlighten and help her followers does he speak, 
to the end that they may no longer walk in darkness, but 
in light. 

The doctrinal status of the papacy is treated at 
length and with great fairness. It is shown to what 
errors the papal authority is committed, and all of a 
more or less serious consequence to piety and morality. 
The fact is recognized that little or nothing can be done 
to change these errors and shameful beliefs by anything 
like political action. If Rome's childreiT^are converted 
at all, it must be done by processes such as are used upon 



Preface . 7 

those in our own churches who are in error. Truth is 
immortal and invincible, and plain yet kind speech will 
do much with them. ISJevertheless, the task the author 
has set for himself is not an easy one. He knows only 
too well the power by which the Church holds her mem- 
bers — her splendid ritual, involving "stately processions, 
priests of all orders with gorgeous vestments; statues and 
pictures of all grades of artistic work, magnificent church- 
es, decorated by the best artists in the world and glitter- 
ing with the finest marbles, costliest gems and most 
precious metals, while choirs and organs make musical 
art servant to the Church." He knows that the masses 
of the people are under the domination of the priests, 
and do not themselves understand the true character of 
the church to which they belong. He knows how im- 
plicitly and without questioning they follow their leaders. 
But he remembers also that among them there are many 
who are true and good men, men who have no intention 
of being disloyal citizens or unworthy Christians. And 
to these this work is sent and must make its appeal. In 
the reading of it they will easily recognize the mind and 
heart of a true friend, whose sole desire is that they may 
come to know the truth as it is in Jesus, and that it may 
make them free. 

Rev. G. T. Street, 

Pittsburg, Pa. 



INTRODUCTION. 



For fifteen years' experience, as a priest, in the 
Roman Catholic church, I am in a position to know that 
the doctrines and practices stated in the following chap- 
ters are of faith, and cannot be disclaimed by the highest 
ecclesiastical authority. There was a time, when, singu- 
lar to say, I myself believed in these doctrines and prac- 
tices. They seemed all the time unreasonable, but my 
pledge to believe in the power of the church to save and 
to damn, to bind and to loose persuaded me to imagine 
that there was some invisible power behind the altar and 
its sacraments that could save me. As years passed by 
in the ministry my faith on that point grew weak. When 
I began to study the Bible, faith in all the Romish doc- 
trines began to vanish. It seemed the year before I took 
my last farewell of Rome that it was not only possible, 
but probable, that I was in the wrong boat for the port 
of Salvation, and that if I did not leave, and steer another 
way, never should I enter the harbor of life everlasting. 

I took no steps rashly, nor did I leave the Roman 
Catholic church without praying fervently over the first 
doubts. It took months and years to find the light after 
the first experience of being a lost man in a lost craft. 
Thank God it has been found. 

I would refer the reader to some of my "first 
thoughts " stated in the " Faith Once Delivered Unto 
the Saints," written shortly after my coming out from 
the church. 

Grass does not grow in a day, nor is a man con- 
verted from Romanism in a week. 

I believe different people have different experiences, 
as they have different minds and various ways of using 
them. Some may be moved to think by seeing some 
palpable and disgusting absurdity in the church, while 
others see the same and look on it as a virtue. 

But let me state here that with hundreds of minor 
causes that put me to think of the corruption of the 



10 . Introduction. 

Romish church, and of salvation through the Lord and 
Savior Jesus Christ, was chiefly the holy life of Protes- 
tant Christians when compared with my fellow citizens, 
the Roman Catholics. One Sabbath morning, before 
saying mass for my congregation, I was sitting on the 
stoop with a brother priest. The Presbyterians and 
Methodists and Baptists were passing along to their 
respective places of worship. Being pretty close to the 
sidewalk I got a fair look into the countenances of the 
church goers. Like a flash of lightning it dawned 
upon me that these good people had some standard of 
authority and faith higher than mine. The contrast, 
even in their walk and demeanor with those of my people 
on the opposite side of the street, was convincing. 
Turning to the other priest I said; "Father, these 
people are true Christians." " What makes you think 
that?" "Well, there is some holiness of life and devo- 
tion about them I cannot express. They seem to be on 
God's business, while the conduct of my people going to 
church is not edifying." "Oh," said he, "it is pride; 
they are as black as the ace of spades." By " black," 
he meant bigoted. But to convince him of this error I 
demonstrated how it was the other way; that our people 
were prejudiced, and refused to subscribe money to the 
erection of their houses of worship in that place, while 
they, the Protestants, never refused to contribute to the 
building of our churches. " Yes, but," said he, " our 
people know that there is but one true church, and that 
Protestant churches are false, heretical, and that they as 
Catholics have no permission to help heresy." 

During all this time 1 had ample evidence that we 
priests were living too far from God, from our people 
and not far enough from ourselves. It became then 
apparent, as never before, that we had the wrong model 
— that we were patterning after men, instead of pattern- 
ing after the Savior of men, Jesus CJarist. 

I saw in our clergy too much sell-righteousness, a 
domineering spirit, all of which was put down by the 



Introduction . 1 1 

Scripture, I was reading, as "an abomination to the 
Lord." I saw too much deception among brother 
priests, lying, intemperance, ignorance, superstition, love 
of money, wine and the opposite sex, to entitle them to 
the exclusive appellation of the only true ambassadors of 
Jesus Christ. By some associating mth Protestant min- 
isters of the various evangelical churches, at the same time, 
I became convinced that we were the ones who were in 
the false system, and were plodding along the wide path 
to perdition. 

For the most part I found the Protestant clergy 
characterized by the spirit of prayer, able to pray at any 
moment without a book. I found them men of honor, 
temperance, education, able to come out before the 
people and discuss the principal issues of the day. I 
found them pure and chaste in expressions in daily life, 
and thus inferred that they had purer thoughts and purer 
hearts than our men of the priesthood, who seemed to 
take delight in living in the mire. 

I learned that when they said " no," they meant it; 
and that when they promised it was fulfilled. These may 
seem small things to some, but they were among the 
leading causes to bring me from darkness to light, from 
sin to holiness. 

Do not think for a moment that I denounce priests 
and people as all wicked. No! Many of them are exem- 
plary, and live far above the teachings and practices of 
their church. We are not fighting Roman Catholics in 
this book, but their worst enemy — the ecclesiastical sys- 
tem of Rome. The system makes the people what they 
are. If they are found disloyal to the gospel of Christ 
and to the institutions of our country, I do not blame 
them So much as I do the Roman chain that is around 
the neck of the orthodox Romanist. 

We should not keep silent about this blighting sys- 
tem. The people of the United States ought to see that 
it is a national plague, and that its principles are incom- 
patible with Republican institutions. Tax-payers must 



12 Introduction, 

be taught that its aim is to enrich Rome by gathering 
into its coffers the fat of the land, and giving out nothing 
in return but dry rot. 

Our attitude towards the system cannot be friendly. 
That would encourage it and co-operate with its inroads 
on true religion. No enemy should be encouraged and 
protected. Why should he? Is the midnight thief and 
highway robber worthy of respect and defense? Cer- 
tainly not. Neither is the blasting and tyrannical system 
of the Roman Catholic church worthy of any one's 
defense. Love and kindness shown the hierarchical 
organization in this country is nothing less than cruelty 
to Roman Catholics themselves. Let us help Roman 
Catholics to see this. We must be bold, not cowardly. 
We may as well declare war now as at another time. 

A fierce war has to be waged between Romanism 
and true Christianity, between sin and holiness. Those 
who would straddle the fence and pretend they have 
scratching to do on the other side are unworthy of 
notice. We can have no sympathy with them. They 
would barter the gospel of Christ, the Constitution of 
the United States and the public schools for Romish 
influence and the Romish dollar. Every one engaged in 
the conversion of Romanists will find these human 
stumbling blocks in every county, state and nation. 

Some may say, especially Catholics, that their church 
is loyal to the gospel and to the institutions of America . 
But remember that if it can be shown that the church has 
been palpably disloyal to the word of God, and even to 
on6 of the fundamental laws and principles of the coun- 
try, that is enough. The system found disloyal to one is 
disloyal so to all. But the following chapters will prove 
that the Roman Catholic church cannot be loyal to either 
the gospel or the institutions of the land. 

Romanists must be instructed in the history of their 
church, and they cannot fail to -see how she has dis- 
claimed doctrines which she has proclaimed hundreds of 
years ago. Instead of believing then that she is as firm 



Introduction. 13 

as the rock in faith, they will be surprised to learn that 
she is as changeable as vapor and as mutable as the 
waves of the sea. 

The system of Rome stands for a low standard of 
morality and citizenship. It keeps up a constant influx 
of an ignorant, unbelieving, superstitious and dangerous 
foreign element of immigration to this country. They 
come here to enlarge the bloated corporosity of the 
"man of sin," and be a menace to the best interests of 
the nation. They can hardly be adapted to the condi- 
tions of a Republican form of government. It is the 
worst on earth for them. They have been ruled by the 
whip and the iron rod, and do not know what liberty is. 

Any man who believes that his church has power to 
exempt from the obligation of observing an oath, and 
absolve from the crime of perjury and murder, cannot 
ever be relied on for truth, faithfulness and allegiance. 

With a fervent invocation of the Holy Spirit to 
enlighten the minds of Roman Catholics, and bless to 
them the reading of this work, the book is humbly sent 
forth on its important mission. Let every reader be a 
means of communicating its truth to at least one Roman 
Catholic, and thus aid us in the great work in which we 
are engaged. 

If but one Roman Catholic may be brought to see 
the magnitude of the insult ofiered to Jesus Christ by 
imputing satisfaction and merits to the works of sinful 
men. If one can only be led to see the sacrilege and 
blasphemy of putting the merits of men above those of 
Christ's sacriQce on the cross. If one can only be moved 
by the Spirit to believe in God's word, which declares: 
*'And by him all that believe are justified from all 
things," and that '' God commendeth His love towards 
us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." 
(Rom. 5: 8.) If only one may be led out from the bond- 
age of the papal system by reading this book to the 
liberty of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the author 
is well satisfied with the result of his labors. But with 



14 Introduction. 

God's grace multitudes will, after reading it, become 
disgusted with the corrupt dogmas, and will abandon 
them for the way of salvation through Jesus Christ. 
God grant that all my former friends of that church 
may know the truth as it is in Jesus, and be set free, is 
my earnest desire. 

J. Donnelly. 
Pittsburg^ May^ 1896. 



CHAPTER I. 
Reasons Why I Left The Roman Catholic Chuech. 

1 — Because Roman Catholic Moral Theology teaches 
that her members may equivocate, dissemble, perjure, 
steal, and even murder, if it be for the good of the 
church. 

2 — Because she has corrupted the Holy Scriptures, 
denied them to her people for ages, and left out the 
second commandment of God entirely from the deca- 
logue, that her image worship might not appear so cul- 
pable and blasphemous. 

3 — Because the law of the church teaches that if the 
priest learn in the confessional from his penitent that the 
latter is about to plot the burning of a city and the 
destruction of all the inhabitants thereof, he must say, if 
interrogated outside the confessional, that he knows 
nothing about it; and if in a court of justice, he is to 
confirm his statement by an oath. 

4 — Because her worship of and praying to saints is 
unscriptural, unreasonable and absurd. For saints to 
hear the prayers of all Roman Catholics, it is necessary 
that they be in all places at the same time and be omnis- 
cient. But only one is ubiquitous and omniscient. He 
is able to see the motives of the heart and hear all 
supplications — God, the Almighty One. "For thou 
only knowest the hearts of the children of men.' '(2 
Chron. 6:30). 

5 — Because of the monstrous and idolatrous doc- 
trine of the mass, in which she teaches that the priest 
consecrates the wafer into the flesh and blood of Christ, 
and presents him to thousands of people, whole and 
entire, in thousands of places at the same time. This 
seems to me contrary to Scripture, reason and all 
experience. We have no instance of where Christ when 
on earth was ever in mores than one place at a time. 



16 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

When teaching in the synagogue he was not in the gar- 
den of Gethsemane. When in the temple, he was not 
walking with Mary and Joseph on the way from 
Jerusalem. 

The Lord's Supper, of which the mass is a mockery, 
was not literal, but figurative of Christ's body. It was 
to be a commemoration. "For so often as ye eat this 
bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death 
till he come." (1 Cor. 11:26.) 

6 — Because she teaches that the sacrament of Bap- 
tism regenerates, makes people Christians and heirs of 
heaven. She, therefore, contradicts the Bible, which 
declares that we are justified by faith, and that faith and 
salvation is personal, and cannot be obtained by proxy. 

7 — Because she teaches that the infant which dies 
without baptism shall never enter into the presence of 
God ; and on the other hand, that the highway robber, 
the blasphemer, gambler, drunkard, thief and murderer 
who may confess to a priest, and do penance, will pos- 
sess the kingdom of heaven. Little children of whom 
Christ said, " Suflfer them to come unto me, and forbid 
them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven," think 
of these going into outer darkness while the bloodthirsty 
assassin goes to the Holy of Holies to enjoy the paradise 
of God forever ! 

8 — Because confession to a priest is immoral, in- 
decent and contrary to the Scriptures which command 
us to go to God alone. 

9 — Because auricular confession dwells on thoughts 
and uses language so obscene that if uttered outside in 
ordinary society both priest and penitent would be 
arrested and prosecuted for using obscene language. 

10 — Because the confessional box paves the way for 
an involuntary celibate, and too often an intemperate 
man, to the moral ruin of his unsophisticated female 
penitent. 

11 — Because the command of tlie~Apostle to " con- 
fess your sins, one to another," is violated by the priests, 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 17 

who insist on their enslaved victims to confess to them, 
but they themselves never in return kneel down and 
confess to the people. 

12 — Because of her traditions and dogmas and 
bulls which contradict the word of God, and make it of 
no avail. There is no scriptural authority for any of her 
sacraments as she teaches them. Especially is this true 
of the five bastard sacraments: Confirmation, Penance, 
Extreme Unction, Ordination and Matrimony. 

13 — Because of her perilous and wicked doctrine of 
" Intention," which teaches it to be lawful to steal if you 
form the intention of making restitution. According to 
that '* intention " you may take a neighbor's article, pro- 
vided you have not the intention of stealing it. If after- 
wards you consume the property or lose it, the real 
owner can get nothing if you have not w^herewith to 
restore. In that case the law that obtains is : "Necessi- 
tas non habet legem;" that is, ''necessity has no law." 
He must put up with what he gets — nothing, on the 
principle of " what cannot be cured must be endured." 
But the thief rests at ease under that doctrine, in that he 
had not the "intention " of originally stealing the article, 
but just of using it for a time for his own use. 

14 — Because no Roman Catholic is ever sure of sal- 
vation, as he is not certain of the priest having the right 
intention when baptizing him. If the priest had not the 
intention to do what Rome does, the baptism is null and 
void, and, consequently, all other sacraments are null. 
"If any one shall say that the intention of doing, at least 
what the church does, is not required in ministers while 
they administer the sacraments, let him be accursed." 
Council of Trent, Canon 10, De Sacramentis . 

15 — Because a good and merciful God would not 
commit the salvation of souls to the intention or non- 
intention of an ecclesiastical body of men, who, for 
unholy living and impure lives are hardly equaled by 
any other class of notorious dinners . 



18 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

16 — Because I found that nearly all the doctrines of 
Rome were unscriptural, and were never taught by Christ 
or his Apostles, or practiced by the early Christians. 

17 — Because Rome teaches that to be saved it is 
necessary to belong to the Roman Catholic church. 
And Christ and his Gospel teach that salvation is by 
direct, personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. "He 
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he 
that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath 
of God abideth on him." (John 3:36). 

18 — Because the Church of Rome interprets most 
of the Scriptures in a literal, material sense, where Christ 
speaks in a figurative and spiritual sense. 

19 — Because she impresses the people with a false 
idea of the word "Church." 

20 — Because I saw and touched the instruments of 
the Inquisition, by which multitudes of honest Christians 
were put to a slow, heartrending death for the crime of 
being suspected of heresy. When I saw the tortures of 
"walling up," the "burning pile," the *' red-hot ovens," 
the deadly " pulley," the " iron virgin," the cold " water 
pressure" on the brain. When I obtained sufficient 
evidence that priests, bishops and monks who claimed to 
be the representatives of the meek and lowly Jesus, 
helped to apply the torch to the limbs of their fellow 
men, I shed tears, and prayed God to show me the way 
out from a system that strangled, burned and murdered. 

21 — Because the confessional is blasphemy and a 
reproach to Jesus Christ, who invites the sinner to come 
to him for mercy. " If we confess our sins he is faithful 
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from 
all unrighteousness." (1 Jno., 1:9). 

22 — Because priests violate the secrecy of the con- 
fessional in speaking to one another about the sins they 
hear in the confession in such a way that the listeners 
know to whom they refer. 

23 — Because intoxication is the fufe,. rather than the 
exception, among all priests. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 19 

24 — Because of her idols and images, which are not 
only venerated, but worshipped. The blessed Apostle 
says : ''Flee from idols." (1 John, 5:21). 

25 — Because she condemns marriage in priests, 
bishops and monks, and thus conflicts with the word of 
God, which says: "A bishop must be blameless, the hus- 
band of one wife." (1 Tim., 3:2.) And, "To avoid 
fornication, let every man have his own wife." (1 
Cor., 7:2). 

26 — Because of the church's unscriptural doctrine of 
Extreme Unction, which teaches the departing soul to 
settle its last thoughts on visible things, such as candles, 
oils, holy water, instead of looking to Jesus Christ, whose 
blood " cleanseth from all sin." (1 John, 1:7.) 

27 — Because, no matter how holy Roman Catholics 
may live, and no matter how many good works they per- 
form, the church gives them no assurance of heaven on 
their departure hence, but presents them with doubts, 
fears and the certainty of a burning Purgatory, even for 
the just, before they can enter heaven. With them there 
is no " This day thou shalt be mth me in Paradise." 

28 — Because the church teaches that sprinkling 
infants regenerates them, and makes them members of 
the church, and children of God. 

29 — Because, in the early Christian churches those 
only were baptized who believed. "Then Peter said 
unto them, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in 
the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins. Then 
they that gladly received his word were baptized." (Acts 
^: 38-41.) 

30 — Because the church receives into her member- 
ship the unconverted, and baptiz(;s them, whereas in the 
church of Christ in all ages those only were baptized who 
were previously converted. Even the Apostle Paul was 
first converted and then baptized. " And he received 
his sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized." (Acts 
9:18.) 



20 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

31 — Because wooden instruments called crosses, also 
images of the virgin and saints, are retained, venerated 
and worshipped. 

32 — Because the second commandment forbids the 
making of " any graven image, or any likeness of any- 
thing that is in the heaven above or that is in the earth 
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou 
shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them , for 
I am the Lord thy God."— Exod. 20: 3, 4, 5.) 

33 — Because the church admonishes the people to 
have recourse to the intercession of the saints, and to 
venerate their relics ; and because the sacred Scriptures 
say : " There is one God, and one mediator between God 
and man, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim., 2:5.) "I 
am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh 
unto the Father but by Me." — John 14:6.) 

34 — Because I believe that purity is a holier state 
than celibacy; but the church insists on celibacy for 
priests, deacons and bishops. 

35 — Because enforced celibacy is radically wrong, 
and is contrary to the word of God. " A bishop must 
be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of 
good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not 
given to wine." (1 Tim., iii: 2,3.) 

36 — Because in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper 
the church teaches that the flesh and blood of Christ is 
present in a material, carnal sense, and the Scripture 
says: " It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth 
nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit 
and they are life." (John vi: 63.) 

37 — Because the church demands the people to go 
to the priest in the confessional to obtain pardon of sins, 
and the Lord Jesus Christ invites sinners to come to Him 
for forgiveness: " Come unto me, all ye that labor, and 
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt.xi: 28.) 

38 — Because the church makes the^^e its head on 
earth, whereas there is no head other than Christ Jesus. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 21 

" For the husband is head of the wife as Christ is head 
of the church." (Ephes. v: 23.) 

39 — Because the mass is a fraud imposed on the 
implicit confidence of a credulous people, under pretense 
that it is the same as Christ's sacrifice on the cross, and 
that the priest's mass liberates the souls of the dead 
from an imaginary Purgatory. The word of God 
declares that Christ "ofiered one sacrifice for sins forever, 
iind then sat down on the right hand of God." (Heb. x: 
11,12. 

40 — Because the Romish church makes the Virgin 
Mary the refuge of sinners, the "gate of heaven," the 
*' comfort of the afflicted," the "morning star," the 
"health of the weak" and the " help of Christians." 

41— Because the church's aim is to keep the people 
in intellectual, moral and physical slavery, and make 
them "hewers of wood and carriers of water" the world 
over. 

42— Because an orthodox Roman Catholic owes 
allegiance to the ecclesiastical government of the pope 
of Rome, who teaches his superiority over, and above, all 
secular powers; and, therefore, cannot be a legal citizen 
to any civil government. 

43 — Because a large number of the popes have been 
the most immoral wretches who ever appeared in human 
form. 

43 — Because all the popes interfere with politics, 
and have been the greatest curses of the nations of the 
earth. 

44 — Because the papacy teaches dogmas and human 
canons that contradict the teaching of Christ, and has 
persecuted unto death for conscience's sake. 

45^Because Rome denies Jesus Christ to be our 
advocate, our redeemer and our Savior, by exalting Mary 
to be " our most loving Advocate " and " the protectoress 
of all sinners." 

46 — Because the church has persecuted the Bible, 
discouraged its reading and study among the people, 



22 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

and recommends instead thereof the priest's prayer book 
and bishop's catechism. 

47 — Because the church has failed to bringr the 
unconverted to a holy life. Her members live and die 
unhappy in mind and conscience, always looking for 
some help they never find. 

48 — Because 1 have learned from long and careful 
experience that priests and bishops do not preach for the 
interest of Christ and his kingdom, but for Rome and 
the almighty dollar. 

49 — Because the apostles and disciples of Christ 
never dressed in royal vestments — never said mass in 
Latin or in any other language — never permitted man^ 
woman or child to bend the knee to them in confession — 
never heard confessions at all — never despised marriage 
in priests or bishops, but blessed it and recommended it. 
as " honorable in all." They never used wine, holy 
water, candles, wafers, incense, agmis dei^ scapulars, 
medals, relics, or pocket Gods of any kind. 

50 — Because the mass offers an opportunity to a 
large majority of priests to mock and blaspheme the Lord 
Jesus Christ by celebrating it in a drunken state. 

51 — Because the church changes her doctrines so 
often that Catholics themselves for the most part do not 
know what their church really believes, or teaches. 

52 — Because the Romish teaching is nowhere estab- 
lished by the Bible. 

53 — Because I feel more secure to live by faith and 
the word of God than by traditions and the alleged 
infallibility of men. 

54 — Because indulgences are held out by the church 
and are indirectly and directly procured by paying out 
of the pocket hard cash. 

55 — Because Purgatory seems to me to be estab- 
lished not for the purpose so much of drawing souls fi'om 
the fiery pit, as for drawing the moneym)m the pockets 
of a credulous people. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 23' 

56 — Because I firmly believe that it is of Pagan 
origin, and devilish in the extreme for man to adore the 
host. 

58 — Because I believe that priests and bishops, 
instead of being vicars and ambassadors of the Holy One, 
are but microbes and human parasites, the farther from 
which we betake ourselves, the happier, holier and more 
successful in this life and the life to come shall we be. 

59 — Because I found more wicked men and seducers 
among the Roman Catholic clergy than among any other 
class of men of equal numbers. 

60 — Because, according to the Scriptural idea, the 
Roman church is no Christian church at all. All who 
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are of the Christian 
church, wherever found, and to them, and not to a 
hierarchical body of men is the commission given to preach 
and teach and to forgive trespasses against each other. 
To them is the promise made, and not to a priest or 
pope, that the Holy Spirit will abide with them all days 
to comfort, to teach, and guide to the consummation of 
the world. 

60 — Because I am satisfied from history, and espe- 
cially from my knowledge of the Bible, that neither Sts. 
Peter, Paul, John, James, Thomas, or any other follower 
of Christ did what the priests, bishops and pope of Rome 
do now. 

61 — Because long experience has taught me that 
the church gives the people no equivalent for the 
immense sums of money she extorts from them. 

62 — Because the church forbids a man to use his 
own reason, or be guided by the testimony of his own 
senses. 

63 — Because I prefer to be saved by the free grace 
of the Lord and Savior, promised to all who will, than to 
risk my salvation by proxy and purchased grace of men 
who have none to spare, even for themselves. 

64 — Because I will never give up a certainty for an 
uncertainty. 



24 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

65 — Because I want to use my own brains that God 
has given me to beget knowledge to prove all things, 
<'and hold fast to that which is good." 

^^ — Because I prefer to be condemned by the priest 
for rejecting his expensive salvation, than to be condemned 
on the last day by the judge of all the earth for rejecting 
free salvation purchased by the precious blood of Christ. 

67 — Because I prefer to read the Scriptures and 
judge for myself by the aid of the Holy Spirit, though I 
be called a "heretic," a "turn coat" and "black sheep," 
than to receive the milk of the word from men who don't 
know it, and be called "a good, holy Roman Catholic." 

68 — Because I deny the proposition of the church 
that there can be no good government on earth without 
the Roman Catholic religion. 

69 — Because I find in every land in which I traveled 
that, for the most part, good Roman Catholics make bad 
Christians, and wicked Christians make good Roman 
Catholics. Of course true Christians, converted men, 
cannot become Roman Catholics. 

70 — Because I believe the pope, who refuses to be 
instructed in faith and morals, in that he knows it all, is 
antichristian and the son of perdition. 

71— Because I could not believe that the public 
schools, for the best interests of any nation ought to be 
under the control of the church. 

72 — Because 1 could not be a true American citizen 
and take sides with a system that is a disgrace to the 
fundamental institutions of our country. 

73 — Because I do not believe that " education out- 
side the Roman Catholic church is a damnable heresy." 

74 — Because I cannot believe that Sts. Patrick, 
Joseph, Peter, Bridget, or any of them, can be in differ- 
ent places at the same time to hear prayers, and, there- 
fore, that they cannot help us in any way. 

75 — Because the church has always opposed the 
liberty of the press, the liberty of spe^h and even the 
liberty of thought. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 25 

76 — Because I consider it blasphemy to call tHe pope 
"king of kings and lord of lords." 

77 — Because the church that has used the chain, the 
.thumbscrew, the virgin crib, the fagot to make people 
giv^e up their religious convictions, cannot be the church 
of Christ. 

78 — Because I believe that no church has a right to 
make slaves of those who desire to worship God accord- 
ing to their own consciences. 

79 — Because I believe that civil laws are binding on 
the conscience of every subject of the nation, whether 
these laws be conformable to the teachings of Rome 
or not. 

80 — Because I cannot persuade myself to believe 
that the laws of the land are null and void, in that they 
do not agree with the laws of the Roman Catholic church. 

81 — Because I believe that no church has power to 
absolve its members from oaths and their allegiance to 
the civil government. 

82 — Because the church teaches that she has the 
power to alter all civil laws that are opposed to equity. 

83 — Because it is cheaper and safer to go in spirit 
to confession to God than to have recourse to the priest 
for remission. 

84 — Because the church warns the people through 
the confessional to have no intercourse whatever with 
those who once belonged to her faith. 

85 — Because the church loves authority better than 
truth ; and form more than spirit. 

86 — Because through all history she has proved her- 
self the mother of ignorance, intolerance and superstition. 

87 — Because she has added to, and taken from, the 
Word of God. 

88 — Because her teaching is calculated to encourage 
sin and induce to unholy living. 

89 — Because I never knew the church to cut off a 
member for violating any of the ten commandments, but 
know of her to persecute unto death those who persisted 



26 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

in worshipping God according to the dictates of 
conscience. 

90 — Because I have been ashamed of church history 
and the very immoral lives of a large number of the 
popes of Rome. 

91 — Because I saw more light in the common people 
of the Protestant churches than I have seen in the clergy 
of the Roman Catholic church. 

92 — Because I have found in the church as much, if 
not more, drunkenness, violence, deception, blasphemy, 
desecration of the Sabbath, and all manner of uncleanli- 
ness, than I ever found in any equal number of people 
of the world. 

93 — Because I have found that forbidding to marry, 
to eat meat on Fridays, to abstain from honest industry 
on certain church days — to discipline the body with 
whips to make it obey the soul, etc., are Pagan inven- 
tions, and should be exterminated from among civilized 
beings. 

94 — Because I find that wearing vestments, saying 
mass, blessing beads and water, burning incense and 
candles, praying to saints and angels are also of Pagan 
origin. The same being practiced until this day by 
Indians, Chinese and aboriginal savages. 

95 — Because there is no pope in the Bible. 

96 — Because the pope's doctrine and St. Peter's 
don't agree. 

97 — Because the church teaches that no man has a 
right to choose his religion. 

98 — Because nearly all of the Romish doctrines are 
established by men, and of recent date, as anyone may 
see from history. 

99 — Because I find the church to be a political 
organization, instead of an assembly embracing the people 
of God. 

100 — Because it is a secret society full of peril to 
the nation. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 27 

101 — Because the Roman Catholic church is to-day 
what she always was, the intolerant, bloodthirsty tiger. 
On her own testimony she cannot change — " est semper 
eadem." That is, "She is always the same." 



28 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

CHAPTER II. 

Renouncing Romanism. 

Lecture renouncing Roman Catholicism delivered in 
the court house, Mercer, Pa., April 12, by Rev. J. 
Donnelly, before an immense audience, many of his 
old parishioners being present, some of whom had seats 
on the platform. Plain statement of his position protest- 
ing against the system. 

\Froifn Mercer Dispatch.'] 

"Ladies and Gentlemen. — Before entering into 
subject of lecture, permit me to invite your attention to 
a few remarks relative to church affairs. According to 
last accounts from ecclesiastical superiors, I am neither 
suspended nor excommunicated, but as to what may take 
place after to-night's lecture I do not know. Excommu- 
nication, however, will have the same effect on me that 
the barking of a tame fox will have on the planet Jupiter. 
In leaving the Roman Catholic Church, therefore, my act 
is entirely voluntary. I wish it to be understood that I 
entertain the most kindly feelings towards the bishop, 
the priests of this diocese and Catholics in general, and 
all the members of my late congregation in particular. 

Several years ago, when in countries where the 
Romish rule is supreme, my faith in the doctrines and 
discipline of the church began to waver, and by degrees 
the doubts ripened into conviction, so that now the climax 
seems to be reached. The first cause of this vincible 
doubt seems to have been the gross ignorance of Roman 
Catholic priests compared with ministers of other de- 
nominations. Everything else being equal, I began to in- 
fer that Protestant ministers are superior to the Catholic 
clergy, in fact, that they are better men; that they are 
better educated, and that intelligence must be nearer 
God, who is a pure, intelligent SpirrtT^an implicit faith 
and illiteracy. I would say to you, friends of my late 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains* 29 

congregation who are with us to-night, think more for 
yourselves, leave less of your thinking to Koman eccle- 
siasticism; pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit; 
supplicate God's grace and He will enable you to see the 
way of salvation and behold the errors and false worship 
of material things. Put aside prejudice and small 
thoughts. If you do this, every intelligent man and 
woman among you will abandon Rome and her peculiar 
docti'ines. Don't think I would ask you to do so were I 
not convinced that Rome has been teaching us error. 
No! God forbid!! I will have enough to answer for 
myself on the last great day, when each one must 'give 
an account ot himself and all the acts of his life. Don't 
think, for a moment, that I would want toleadyou astray 
knowingly. You have been taught to believe that the 
Roman Catholic Church is right, because she was the first 
church. Ought we go back to huts and barns and dress 
in the raw hides of animals because they existed before 
modern houses and coats of broadcloth? The very word 
''Roman'''' shows that the church is not Catholic, for it 
destroys the true meaning of catholicity by limiting it to 
a particular place or custom. '^ Roman Catholic" sounds 
like "some all men," and seems just as logical. Believ- 
ing firmly that I ought to go out of the Romish faith, I 
do now in the presence of you all solemnly declare that 
I renounce, abandon and give up of my own free will the 
Roman Catholic Church for ever. So God help me. 

"I shall always dearly love you, whether you come 
with me or not. Follow the dictates of your own con- 
science. You have, in the past, heard my voice. You 
confided to me your secrets. I assure you that no trust 
will ever be broken. It would not be the part of a gen- 
tleman to violate confidence. Humanity would not allow 
it. So, on that point, rest at ease". 

After these preliminary remarks Rev. Donnelly pro- 
ceeded with his lecture as follows: "It is a first princi- 
ple of j\istice, and appeals to the heart of the parent to 
instruct the child in the way it should go. In a lower 



30 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

grade of creation organized beings are impelled by an in- 
stinctive force of the Creator to teach their young things 
essential to n aintenance and self -protection. But in the 
human race the law has been impressed in the soul, and 
admonishes progenitors of the obligation of educating 
the offspring. To do otherwise, to bring little ones into 
life, and to raise them in ignorance is to deliver them 
over to crime and to death. It is bringing them to a 
worse state than they would have been in had they never 
seen the light of day. Crime is a sure effect of its fertile 
cause — ignorance. Illiteracy leads to sin, and sin to 
death. In such instances we have no evidence that ex- 
istence is preferable to non-existence. 

Unconscious nature, through the instrumentality of 
parents, is rendered conscious of pains inflicted on the 
transgressors of law. Secular knowledge is better than 
illiteracy and implicit faith combined; for it brings in its 
train refinement, horror of depravity and a love of virtue. 
The Almighty has endowed man with mental faculties, 
whose end is to develop knowledge. " Learning," says 
Holy Scripture, "will show you the way of wisdom and 
will lead you to the paths of equity." Again, "Choose 
knowledge rather than gold." It is necessary for man, 
because it is meet that he look up to heaven and medi- 
tate on God's law. Most irrational animals look toward 
earth, while man has been constituted to gaze on high. 
If, therefore, essential to the human race in general, it is 
indispensable to the minister of God in particular — the 
minister who is the guardian, guide and teacher of his 
people. But a teacher and guide ought to know more, 
and see further than those whom he is to guide and 
teach. That the Roman Catholic clergy in intellectual 
ability do not favorably compare with their brethren of 
Protestant denominations, or even some of the laity of 
their own creed, is generally admitted. In some parts of 
Europe, priests obtain a very good education, and are 
able to handle subjects demanding the^profoundest ac- 
quirements. Among them may be mentioned the Jesuits, 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 31 

who are able to explain the doctrines of their church, 
and reply to the arguments of antagonists. But in 
this country they are put through "the mill" in a slip- 
shod sort of way that renders them stumbling blocks to 
the best interests of religion. Even the emigrants com- 
ing here notice the difference. This recalls the anecdote 
of the Irishman and the priest who happened to room to- 
gether in a crowded hotel in Nebraska. On retiring his 
Reverence said to Pat: "Well, Pat, you would be along 
time in Ireland before you could room with a priest." 
"Yes, that's so," said Pat. "But you would have to re- 
main a much longer time in Ireland before they would 
make you a priest." If there are some of the Protestant 
ministry not highly learned they are but exceptions, just 
enough to prove the proposition laid down, namely, that 
the Roman Catholic clergy are far inferior in intelligence 
and general knowledge to Protestant ministers. 

Every effect has its cause, or causes; sickness may 
be contracted by overwork, hard study, unhealthy food, 
impure water, or want of exercise. A disease may be 
occasioned by one or all of these agents together. So 
with ignorance in the Romish priesthood, it is the effect 
of some cause, or other, or the combination of many. 
We believe, among others, that transmission of mental 
inferiority contributes its part. Since the reformation, 
those who have still adhered to Rome deteriorated and 
decreased in intellectual and material wealth. They have 
been suspected of loyalty, truth and confidence, and have 
been refused admission to the higher positions of trust. 
As they became poor in worldly wealth and mental en- 
dowments, they still preferred to grow up illiterate sooner 
than go outside papal walls to seek an education. Hence, 
as generation succeeded generation, ignorance gave birth 
to ignorance, and that is but natural. Seed sown on 
barren soil brings forth poor crop. Plants, in order to 
grow in a healthy state, must have, at least, soil, light, 
heat, air and moisture; if one of these be wanting, the 
plant is defective that much in its vegetable substance. 



32 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

Parents of imbecile physic transmit feeble natures to 
offspring; uncultured minds and undeveloped hearts re- 
produce tame and opaque mental faculties. 

On the other hand, it is an established fact that re- 
fined and intelligent fathers and mothers bless the land 
with gifted children. The organs are balanced, the mind 
has equilibrium. From the ranks of the comparatively- 
cultured few of the Catholic laity the priests are hardly 
ever taken. They come from the poor, unsophisticated 
and unenlightened classes, who think that priests are 
gods; that they will adorn society in life and take pos- 
session of heaven at death. Far be it from me to raise 
the curtain and divest poor, credulous people of that 
opinion. It would be teaching those in hona fide things 
they ought not to know; it would be no benefit to the 
people and no honor to humanity to show the sin, scandal 
and vices that exist in the priesthood. If some people 
think that the water of human purity rises above its level 
in the priesthood, let them remain undisturbed in that 
faith; if the priest puts on the face of a saint, let him 
wear it; if a man wants to be called King, call him King. 

Among Protestants it is different, for there is a 
vaster field of intelligence and morality and spirituality 
from which to select flowers for the church. The parents 
of young candidates being of superior attainments, being 
often ministers of the Gospel themselves, imparting there- 
by in a high degree to their children the germ of science 
and scholarship. Roman Catholics do not enjoy this ad- 
vantage; for the priests, even were they learned, are for- 
bidden by ecclesiastical rule to marry, and whatever 
spark of erudition may domicile there it never goes out 
to otheis, but hopelessly dies with themselves. Young 
men, or rather big boys, without a literary foundation in 
the preparatory branches, without a proper knowledge of 
the English language, enter college, begin Latin ; and, in 
a few weeks, surprise the old folks at home by declining 
the article, hie, hac, hoc. The bishop~6omes along and 
says to them: " Boys, prepare for ordination; the vine- 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 33 

yard is large and the laborers are few." After a couple 
of years at classics and a couple at theology, they are 
elevated to the priesthood. But do they know Latin % 
The prayers of the church, offices and the holy mass are 
all to be said in Latin. Does the priest really under- 
stand what he is saying when reading these prayers ? 
How can he understand it, when he never mastered the 
English grammar, much less the Latin grammar, or the 
common rules of translating ? He cannot distinguish 
between a nominative case and objective, or accusative, 
and not being able to do so he cannot literally translate. 
He too often puts the cart before the horse, and makes 
God say things He never said. Instead of saymg, "God 
made heaven and earth," he takes the accusative case 
first and makes it read, "Heaven and earth made God." 
Instead of saying, "Man offends Gods," he takes the ob- 
jective case first and reads, "God offends man." This is 
certainly " bog Latin." There are priests in this diocese 
with whom I am well acquainted, having charge of large 
congregations, teaching souls the law of God, who can- 
not decline a substantive, or conjugate a verb in either 
English or Latin. Do these ministers give honor to God, 
while saying mass and praying to Him in a tongue they 
don't know \ Do they give glory to the Creator of 
heaven and earth, and Lord of all knowledge, w hen pray- 
ing, and do not know what they are praying for % They 
may want bread, and pray for stones. While they im- 
agine the Lord of Heaven is being praised. He is insulted! 
He is despised ! 1 He is mocked ! ! ! Looking at the 
state of affairs in the Roman church, we might well say 
in the words of the ancient classical writers, "O, Tem- 
pora ! O, Mores!" and add, "O^ blind leaders of Israel! 
If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." 
A priest who does not understand what he is saying, is 
not worthy of being understood by God. A person who 
wanted a favor of you and did not understand himself, 
or how to make you know his request, would, of course, 
receive nothing, and this is about the value of the prayers 



34 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

of the majority of the priests — they are worth nothing. 
They fail to give praise and glory to God. The rotating 
wheel of the locomotive that is unconscious of its action, 
gives God, its first cause, more real worship, for it acts 
truly, and faithfully fulfills its end in accordance with 
natural law. But the majority of bishops reply to this 
by stating that a. mechanical prayer to God is sufficient; 
it matters not whether the priest knows what he says or 
not, provided he pronounces the words. "Why, man," 
said one Bishop to me, "we don't want learned priests so 
much as we do faithful and obedient ones;" that is, 
"faithful and obedient" to the episcopal authority. That 
is just what the church wants, implicit obedience to what 
she teaches; that is the kind of soil on which Romish 
seed take root, grow, ripen, multiply and bring forth 
fruit of implicit subjection and blind devotion that always 
burns on its own substance, like the smothered fire that 
emits obscurity and smoke and fails to give light and 
heat and comfort. 

.The work of a priest is peculiar. The laws and dis- 
cipline of the church require the daily recitation of an 
office, the celebration of the mass for the living as well 
as for the souls of deceased, who are supposed to be in 
Purgatory. He has to hear the confessions of his people 
in order to pardon the sins confessed; visit the sick by 
day or by night, administer church sacraments, bless 
beads and scapulars, read gospels over those who have 
faith in his power to perform miracles; bless holy water, 
candles, salt and ashes. With such useless duties is his 
time monopolized, so that there is no leisure for study, 
no period to think over the great questions that concern 
the advancement of society. He gets behind without 
really knowing it. On the contrary, he believes that he 
is ahead of the times; that his dictum is powerful; that 
his decision in discussions is infallible, and that he is the 
great I am^ who has only to say, " Keep out of my way; 
don't you see I am coming !" He is'mtable to see far, 
and thinks his little mental horizon is the great boundary 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 35 

line of heaven and earth. He hardly ever gets caught in 
debating questions, simply because he avoids them. His 
Reverence follows the advice of the Irishman to his 
friend: "Now, Patrick," said he, ''the only way to be 
afther traveling safely in these reckless toimes is to stop 
at home and give thanks for yer escape." The man who 
never saw any other house than his own humble hut 
thinks it the grandest mansion on earth. The gopher 
imagines its subterranean abode to be superior to every- 
thing in science and in art. But it does not follow be- 
cause the gopher thinks so that it is a fact. 

It is true the priest occasionally prepares a sermon 
for Sunday, but how? By taking a few ideas from the 
lives of imaginary saints, from mouldy sermon books — 
ideas adapted to the barbarous times in which the au- 
thors wrote, and which have no more application to our 
times and needs than the stages of old have to the duties 
performed by the iron horse of the nineteenth century. 
Still, when the nature of the doctrine and the condition 
of the audience are considered, he requires not much 
learning; for the preaching is made to implicit faith and 
not to intelligent reason. The sermon may be moth- 
eaten and worn threadbare, from Sabbath to Sabbath, 
with, here and there, a new patch extracted from the life 
of some monk, who never had an existence outside the 
brain of the biographer. The preaching is done in the 
name of the Roman Church, in the name of the pope, 
who is looked upon by the members of that church as in- 
fallible and the vicar of Christ on earth. With Protest- 
ant ministers it is quite otherwise; they preach on a 
higher plane; their altitude on the intellectual globe be- 
ing greater, their horizon is necessarily more extensive; 
their preaching is, therefore, far more intelligent and is 
always submitted to the higher moral and literary ca- 
pacity of the audience, to their mind, to their reason and 
judgment, and not to authoritative faith. The Word of 
God falls on fertile soil, on enlightened minds, on a free 
people, and brings forth spiritual fruit — the fruit of holy 



36 Fifteen Years Behind tJu^ Curtains, 

living. The Piotestant minister is all the time a student, 
pen criticises pulpit, mind operates on mind, and the re- 
sult is the mutual elevation of sentiments of religion, 
morality and virtue. His field of secular and religious 
knowledge expands from day to day, and from it as from 
a fountain mental and spiritual nutriment is given to the 
hungry and the thirsty. 

What is true of priests is generally true of bishops; 
for the latter are but priests, only wielding more arbitrary 
authority. Their constant episcopal duties through their 
dioceses prevent their studies and render them anything 
but men of wisdom, or leaders of thought. The spatter- 
ing of classics, received at the seminary, does not make 
the scholar; it only breaks a man in how to study in 
after life; conversation with the learned, and discussion 
with distinguished men of the day are indispensable to 
complete the student. But they are rigorously obliged 
by church discipline to seclude themselves fi'om seculars, 
and live as much as possible in the sacerdotal environ- 
ment. People unacquainted with bishops, for the most 
part, consider them big men , but after familiarity with 
their mental range they express themselves, as the fox 
did to the ass dressed in the lion's skin: "I, too, should 
have feared you, had I not been acquainted with your 
bray." To promote to the episcopacy an educated priest 
(when there is such by way of exception and in spite of 
the church) is not the policy of Rome, lest he be inclined 
to liberal views and modern progress, and have a pro- 
pensity to look over cardinal hats and investigate pro- 
ceedings within Vatican walls. 

What Rome wants in a bishop is a man conspicuous 
for saying the beads, one noted for devotion to the Virgin 
Mary, one willing to give up his will to that of another, 
one who is an humble child of Rome, and Avill say to his 
priests. "Why think according to your own conscience? 
Why question infallible authority? Has Rome not 
spoken ?" By virtue of his office, a Rohian bishop puts 
a handle to his name which reads, "D. D.," ("Doctor of 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 37 

Divinity"). It too frequently represents the absence of 
Divinity, and the only greatness about it is in print when 
properly separated by the spaces. The bishop is a teach- 
er of souls. What does he teach % Of what generally do 
the subjects of his sermons treat ? Like those of an or- 
dinary priest, they explain how to go to confession to 
the priest, how to tell circumstances, time, place and 
manner of sin, how many prayers to say to this and that 
saint to gain an indulgence ; when to use the holy water, 
make signs of the cross and genuflect before the altar. 
Of what benefit is such teaching to the world? Children 
need spirituality. They need useful knowledge that will 
stand by them in after life. They need geography, 
arithmetic, grammar and histor}^ more than beads. They 
need the principles of Christianity applied to their young 
hearts. They need the foundations of honesty and self- 
reliance, sincerity and fidelity, instead of holy water. 
They ought to be directed in the path that leads to the 
"waters of life " — to Jesus Christ, and learn his doctrine 
rather than that of confessing sins to a priest. My opin- 
ion is that confession demoralizes Roman Catholics, takes 
away from the heart the love and fear of God, and en- 
courages them to do more evil with greater ease. It 
blights the desire to grow in grace and advance in the 
knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is injurious both to con- 
fessor and penitent. Sins that otherwise would occasion 
remorse and lead the sinner on to true repentance, now 
no longer trouble the penitent. He yields more readily 
to temptation, seeing, as he does, that he can go to con- 
fession and obtain from the priest absolution of his sins. 
Suppose the judges of the civil courts of this country 
assumed the prerogative of pardoning all evil doers 
brought before the bar of justice, and said without any 
trial by jury: "I forgive you your crimes in the name 
of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, go in peace." What, 
pray, would become of society ? Confession takes away 
all sense of shame and impresses on the brow the mark 
of a moral coward. Just think of a young woman as 



38 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

pure as the lily of the valley going into a confessional to 
a priest who subjects her to a table of sins, which table 
you can find in any larger Roman Catholic prayer book 
— a table that brings to the cheek the blush of shame — a 
table the mere mention of some of the transgressions is 
enough to sully the ear and tarnish the heart. Its effects 
on the confessor, who is generally an involuntary celi- 
bate, are destructive. It blasts in the bud the love of 
purity, and operates on the baser passions and removes 
from the breast the tender sentiments of sympathy, re- 
spect and humanity. The people are taught that there 
is nothing higher in education than a knowledge of the 
sacraments and the ceremonies of the church. Secular 
learning is cast over the fence. The desire to advance in 
secular knowledge is hopelessly discouraged. The twig 
inclined away from cognition becomes a tree of inflexible 
stupidity. Many an unenlightened member of the church 
thinks it a less sin to lie, steal and become intoxicated 
than to work on a holiday, that is, a day designated as 
such by the church. This recalls the experience of a Mr. 
McGinley in Dublin. He was found drunk on the streets 
on the 17th of March, which is a holiday with the Cath- 
olics of Ireland, and is called ''St. Patrick's Day." Mc- 
Ginley was arrested and brought into court. "What have 
you to say for yourself," said the judge. "I was only 
celebrating St. Patrick's Day, yer honor." "You would 
be better off at your work than getting drunk." "What! 
is it me, yer honor, work on Patrick's Day ! oh, niver, 
niver." " WeU, you are fined one pound." "Its cheap 
enough; sure, I would pay tin toimes as much afore I 
would work on St. Patrick's Day." 

I have no desire to speak uncharitably of Roman 
Catholics; they are my friends and neighbors, and we 
ought to love our neighbors as ourselves. Even our ene- 
mies we must love, according to the meek and humble 
Jesus. "Love your enemies; do good to those that hate 
yoQ." No ! A thousand times, no \r — ^ speak against 
errors and false principles and systems; not men. I pro- 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 39 

test against usages that should be abolished, and clerical 
customs that ought not to be tolerated. Facts are facts the 
world over; priests who are not spiritual cannot raake 
others so. People who do not know a lesson cannot in- 
struct others in that lesson, on the principle that '' nemo 
dat quod non habet " (no one can give what he has not 
got), " ex nihilo, nihil Jit " (from nothing, nothing comes). 
These propositions are axioms; they are self-evident. A 
man who has no knowledge of spiritual things — who is 
not acquainted with the Word of God, can no more im- 
part spiritual instruction to others than he can take blood 
from a turnip, or sweet odors from ragweeds. No church, 
or organization of men, can save us. To say that priests 
cannot save our souls is as true as to state that " two 
straight lines cannot enclose a space;" "that the whole 
is greater than its parts," that things that are equal to a 
third are equal to one another." Men who are not only 
unacquainted with the law of God, but with the opera- 
tions of His natural laws on this earth; men who are ig- 
norant of the common events of life, the laws of cause 
and effect, are not entitled to much credit when they 
deign to enlighten us on the worlds beyond the skies, the 
nature of the Creator of the universe, who is immense, 
unthinkable, unlimited, and cannot be likened to any 
image, creature, or object on earth. When they pretend 
to tell us all about the future, eternal punishment, eter- 
nal happiness and Purgatory, and define God, and tell us 
what disposition He will make of Roman Catholics and 
of ^'heretics," who leave the church and denounce its 
errors and its superstitions, then we say that the very 
laws of our being, our consciousness, assure us that they 
are ignorant pretenders, and know no more about what 
God will do with you or me than a wild rabbit knows 
about astronomy. The last Sunday I preached to you, at 
All Saints' Roman Catholic Church, I showed you how 
whole dioceses in the United States had been ruined by 
the errors and blunders of Catholic bishops; you know 
it, I know it; yet, singular to say, some of our poor peo- 



40 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

pie believe that bishops are infallible, and can do no 
wrong, or make mistakes in doctrine or discipline. But 
those who have read history and who take the secular 
papers do not think so. They know very well that some 
old bishops have been old sinners, and that some of the 
old popes have not been a bit better. I often wondered 
where infallibility was located in the church, when the 
monster pope Alexander the Sixth sat on the chair and 
polluted the "holy city" with his enormous excesses and 
unnatural crimes. Not only dioceses, but entire countries 
have been devastated by the blighting effects of ecclesi- 
astical rule. No one can visit Mexico to-day and fail to 
behold the deplorable result of Romish power in that un- 
happy country. The people's religion is a compound of 
superstition, servile fear, fanaticism and a little Christ- 
ianity. When in that country I have seen them run to 
church to pray on the approach of earthquakes, and re- 
turn home to get beastly drunk on their mescal whiskey. 
I witnessed them go to mass, kiss the clayey floor of the 
adobe church building, sprinkle the holy water and bend 
the knee before the images, through devotion; and on 
leaving that temple of worship I saw them steal the 
blessed candles to be used at the mass. In Mexico and 
Central America, I found the clergy better posted on 
scapulars, medals and sacred oils than on geography. 
Few of them study the geography of any other country 
but their native land; and the less they read and know of 
other lands the more faith they seem to have in old Mex- 
ico and her religion. They take pride in telling visitors 
that: "Todos los Mexicanos son Catolicos Romanos"(all 
the Mexicans are Roman Catholics). A Catholic bishop 
said to me that it is better to let a child grow up in igno- 
rance than to permit it to attend the public schools. I 
have been commanded by a bishop to refuse absolution 
and the sacraments to parents who let their children go 
to the public schools. "We have our own schools in 
this place and the children must attendv^them," said he. 
"But what am I to do, bishop," said I, " when the parents 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 41 

declare that the teachers in your schools are not able to 
instruct them ?" "Well, then," said he, "tell them to 
stop at home." Who ever heard of such teaching from 
an infallible church % To advise children to stop at home 
is to encourage ignorance and put a premium on vice and 
crime. *< If ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise." 

I charge the church of Rome with being a stumbling 
block to real progress, and of inducing adherents by her 
teaching to return to dark devotion and the rank super- 
stitions of the middle ages. I charge her for keeping the 
people in ignorance, and still retaining the prayers and 
worship in a dead language, which few can read and less 
can understand. Her prayers are either good or bad; if 
bad, they should not be said at all; and if good, they 
should be said in that tongue which is adopted by our 
country and redounds to the benefit of the many. I 
charge her for forbidding laymen from taking part in her 
councils, and discussing important questions which in- 
volve the highest interests of the people, such as secular 
societies, education, temperance. To regulate such af- 
fairs, councils are held by antiquated monks, who are 
about fifteen hundred years behind the times, unreason- 
able celibates of the episcopacy and of the priesthood, 
whose sensibilities, by reason of their secluded lives, are 
crude and blunted and whose barren minds fail to appre- 
hend the needs and wants of growing generations, as 
practical, experienced intellects and the tender hearts of 
loving fathers and husbands would see. What is the 
consequence of this one-horse rule ? It is that we are 
just where we are to-day, being for the most part, "hewers 
of wood and carriers of water." I charge the church 
with annually sending millions of dollars to the pope of 
Rome, as "Peter's pence." For what purpose? What 
spiritual good? Is it to maintain a reign of arbitrary 
domination, to support a non-producing horde of preju- 
diced, seK-righteous ecclesiastics ? What moral good ac- 
crues to the world from cardinals' hats, or bishops' mi- 
tres? These paraphernalia cost money, and it is the 



42 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

poor credulous people who have to foot the bills. 1 often 
thought it hard to comply with authority to take up this 
papal collection off poor Irish men and women, who could 
poorly afford it, and whose families were often in want of 
the necessaries of life. It is well known that I protested 
against this mercenary practice eight years ago, and have 
not taken much interest since in trying to make it a suc- 
cess for his Holiness. I charge the church with holding 
out inducements to evil-doers by pretending to pardon 
sins and grant indulgences, thereby sapping the founda- 
tions of all holiness of life and personal responsibility to 
God Almighty. I charge her for receiving money under 
false pretense of liberating souls from Purgatory by offer- 
ing up a mass at the rate of a dollar for each low mass 
and ten dollars for every high mass. 

In this county I know a family who keep constantly 
a candle burning before an image of clay, representing 
the Virgin Mary. The same family last year raised a pig 
and sold it for the benefit of the souls in Purgatory. 
Now if suffering souls can be freed from punishment by 
bacon, it is an easy and cheap way of going to heaven. 
As long as there are hogs, there will be priests, and as 
long as there are hogs and priests and money, there will 
be a Purgatory having souls to be redeemed. I charge 
her with teaching doctrines contrary to the sacred 
Scriptures, and practicing ceremonies found only in Josh- 
houses and pagan temples of worship. Let us, my friends,, 
have the courage of our convictions, and obey God sooner 
than man. Let us differ with former convictions and 
faith when our present convictions differ from them. The 
man who is afraid to say what he believes to be right, 
who will confess one thing with the lips and deny the 
same at heart, is certainly a moral coward; he is a forlorn 
slave who fears man rather than God. I say now, to my 
friends of the priesthood, one and all, do not blame me 
for the course I have taken. Do not censure me for 
thinking differently from that of_jearlier days. I see 
things in Rome now in a different light. My judgment 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 43 

is riper, my conscience is certainly better instructed. It 
is an old principle of theology that says: '* Quod non est 
contra conscienciam non est peccatum," that is, "What is 
not contrary to conscience is no sin." I must obey the 
voice of God, the voice of the Holy Ghost, the voice of 
conscience, sooner than the voice of any man; God's law 
is above man's law. To friends and relations of the laity, 
I say farewell. To you, my good people of my late con- 
gregation, many of whom I see here to-night, you who 
always have been kintl, respectful and generous toward 
me, I assure you that I shall always remain your friend. 
You have always stood by your pastor and sustained him 
in all his labors among you ; for all this accept my deep- 
est feelings of gratitacle. But remember, if the cold 
shoulder of bigotry and vindictiveness be turned against 
me on account of the step I have now taken, then I say 
adieu for ever; you were not true friends. You did not 
truly love; you loved yourselves and selfish and sectarian 
feelings, and would hate and persecute for these ends. 

I thank you, citizens of Mercer, for the disinterested 
kindness I have received at your hands for the last %nq 
years. Your presence here to-night is a signal of your 
kind feelings and warm sympathy. We all have our good 
friend who will never go back on us as long as we trust 
in him and obey him, God, our Heavenly Father. In 
Him I trust In Christ I believe. As long as he is with 
me I care not who is against me. ''Who has ever called 
on his name and has been disappointed ?" ''In Him and 
by Him and through Him are all things, to whom be honor 
and glory for ever and ever." 



44 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

CHAPTER III. 

Sample of Some Letters. 

"The following threatening letter is a sample of many 
addressed to Eev. J. Donnelly. It was received through 
this postoffice on Wednesday:" — Merce?' Dispatch. 

"Mercer, April 26. 

"Respected Friend — I am a member of your late 
charge of All Saints^ Church, Mercer, and have been 
given an opportunity to learn to a great extent the sen- 
timent of our Catholic people regarding your expressed 
opinions, which are denounced by many of them. In 
justice to you and myself, as knowing what I do of the 
secret intentions of your most deadly and desperate ene- 
mies; and I believe it to be my duty to warn you of your 
peril, directed by vicious, vindictive fiends, void of manly 
principle and human sympathy; and which, if consum- 
mated, will result in your untimely death, which will 
come from unknown hands. I can't compromise my own 
safety in the hands of men I have good reason to fear, 
and ^^hose hands and presence are not to appear in the 
plot to have you removed from the paths of men forever. 
Such, dear friend, is my reason for not communicating to 
you in person, or giving my name, as I would then place 
my own life in peril. I have good reason to know. Be 
on your guard night and day. You cannot tell where he 
will meet you, whether on the street, in your parlor, in 
your bed chamber, or in the still hours of the night. 
May God protect you from all approaching peril. You 
never will be safe in Mercer. I give you facts, as I un- 
derstand to be true. Your ever well wishing. 

Friend." 

• 

When Mr. Donnelly was asked what he thought of 
this letter, he said: "1 don't belief there is such a 
deadly enemy or outlandish thug in my congregation. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 45 

Of course, there is no telling what bad whiskey and su- 
perstition may generate in the hearts of the very igno- 
rant." 

Rev. Donnelly attacked by Rome through the press, 
and ably defended hy many admirers. 

The intelligeat of his former congregation nobly de- 
fend his views and doctrines in the press. 

One says in the Pittsburg Leader: "There was pub- 
lished in Friday's papers an article obviously 'inspired,' 
and reflecting on the 'peculiar doctrines' of Rev. J. Don- 
nelly, who last Tuesday renounced his belief in Roman 
Catholicism. His idea in regard to future punishment 
was alluded to. The reverend gentleman believes that 
punishment in the future world will consist in an ab- 
sence or banishment from the presence of God, and he 
considers this belief of a more exalted and refined nature 
than the more material belief of the 'fire and brimstone' 
of Rome. The article went on further to state that Mr. 
Donnelly was left undisturbed ' out of charity.' While 
holding views with which his superiors did not agree, it 
is singular that they should leave him 'undisturbed.' For 
about two years, and up to within some months pafst, Mr. 
Donnelly has been an assistant editor of the organ of the 
diocese, the Lake Shore Visitor^ and his articles were 
never called into question, thus tacitly being approved. 
If his superiors knew that he entertained false views of 
their church doctrine, and did not take steps to discipline 
him, they certainly failed in their duty, and the least that 
is said on that matter from the ecclesiastical hierarchy 
the better for them."— J. B. B. 

"We have the highest regard for the Rev. J. Don- 
nelly, and believe him to be an educated gentleman of 
the purest motives and the highest integrity." — The 
Mercer Press, Pa. 

"His conversion, he says, was the result of his own 
research and meditations, and not from any outside per- 



46 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

sonal influence. He made a public declaration of his 
change of heart in the presence of a large audience in 
the Mercer court house last spring." — Pittsburgh Com- 
mercial Gazette. 

A writer to the Dispatch and Republican says: " One 
of the best things I have found in your paper is the lec- 
ture of Rev. J. Donnelly. He deserves a gritty backing. 
I count him a Wicklifie — the morning light of a reaction 
that is sure to come in this country, as the rays of intel- 
ligence penetrate beyond the hierarchical barriers of 
Romanism. I hope you will give him fearlessly all the 
aid he wants. I would like to send him my greeting as 
to a man, (1) of conscience, (2) of brains, (3) of pluck." 

The Following Editorial from Disjxttch. 

"Rev. Donnelly has had charge of the congregation 
for five years, during which time it has prospered greatly, 
having erected a magnificent church building, which is 
almost paid for. This would indicate that he has been 
an untiring worker, and has had the good will of his 
flock. In his relations with people outside of the church 
Rev. Donnelly has always shown himself a gentleman of 
refinement and high attainments, and, in Mercer, all who 
enjoy his acquaintance are his firm friends." — Mercer 
Dispatch. 

At the dedication of the new church building of All 
Saints, Mercer, a little over a year before Mr. Donnelly 
renounced Romanism, the Bishop of the diocese officiat- 
ing on the occasion, said preliminary to the sermon: 

"I believe that a few remarks relative to the occa- 
sion which has brought together so large an assemblage 
of all classes and creeds will not be out of place. In the 
first place, I feel sure that all will agree that the church 
we have just dedicated is a credit Jto. Father Donnelly 
and his flock, and that they deserve great praise for rais- 
ing this temple to the^worship of the true God." 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 47 

A few extracts from the bishop's sermon on the oc- 
casion will demonstrate the mental and liberal calibre of 
the man: 

"What shaU be taught and done in this church? 
Many things, my brethren, w^hich shall be done in no 
other church in this locality, for a Catholic church is 
peculiar in many respects. What the Lord did the night 
before he was betrayed will be done here. He took 
bread and blessed it and said, 'This is my body,' and he 
took wine and said, 'This is my blood.' The apostles re- 
ceived his body and blood. Do you say that this is a 
mistake? Then you know better than He did. When 
He says, 'This is my body and blood,' I believe it, though 
I see it not. 

" In this church there \vdll be the confessional, where 
the priest hears the confessions of his flock and gives 
them absolution. Do you say: 'Yes, and they will go 
and do the same thing over again.' If they do so, it is 
their fault, not the Church's. If they go to confession 
without intending to do better in the future, confession 
and absolution do them no good. Do you say: 'No man 
can forgive sin.' What did Jesus say to his disciples? 
^ Whosoever sins you remit they are remitted unto them, 
and whosoever sins you retain they are retained.' When 
they undertook to forgive sins, I believe they had the 
power to do so." ^ * * * 

" Here baptism will be administered, for those who 
are not baptized are not Christians, and cannot enter 
heaven. A harsh doctrine! It is His. 'Unless ye are 
born of water and the spirit, ye can in no wise enter the 
Kingdom of Heaven.' Do you ask me, 'Don't little chil- 
dren who are not baptized go to heaven?' Our Lord says 
<No.' That's all I know. * * ^ * 

"There is good done in all churches. Even in a 
Methodist or Presbyterian church some good is accom- 
plished and some truth taught. Men are there warned 
not to murder, steal or lie, but to do good to their neigh- 
bors. But there is one true religion; there is one true 



48 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

church. Among the sects I find one church that claims 
that infant baptism is right, and another that says it is 
wrong. This cannot be of God. He does not differ. He 
is the founder of one true church, and that is the Roman 
Catholic Church. How do I know that it is the true 
church? Because I can trace her succession to-day in 
an unbroken chain, one end of which is held by Leo the 
Thirteenth and the other by St. Peter, prince of the 
Apostles. It is the only church which has been from the 
beginning. All others began thirteen hundred years too 
late to have any connection with Jesus Christ as their 
founder." On this occasion the bishop put forth his best 
literary efforts, and had over two months' notice to pre- 
pare a sermon. The writer advised him to acquit himself 
nobly, as several distinguished men and women from the 
Protestant churches would be present. Bat it is needless 
to say that I was greatly disappointed in the mass of 
gush mingled with such notorious bigotry that was poured 
out on the respectable audience. Several people who 
were not Christians, and who were attending my church 
for years, said to me, after the service: "Well, goodby; 
I will never attend the Catholic church any more. If 
that is Christianity from the fountain head, I want no 
more of it." 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 49 

CHAPTER lY. 
Scriptures and Roman Catholic Doctrine. 

It is often asked why does the Roman Catholic 
church prevent the reading of the Bible to their people. 
In reply let it be here stated that the church docs not so 
much prohibit its reading as it forbids Roman Catholics 
to interpret it, or take any meaning from Scripture that 
would conflict with the Romish creed. But as almost 
the entire creed of Rome is condemned by the Scriptures 
there is no desire on the part of the authorities of the 
church to encourage the people to read the Bible, even 
for pastime. The Scriptures would interpret them- 
selves to every intelligent Catholic reader, if he were 
only permitted to study them as a text book in Sunday 
school instead of the catechism. But no, the church 
must do that, through its head the pope. He is the 
great self constituted infallible, supreme teacher of faith 
and morals. When the reader notices the contrast from 
a comparison of the gospel of Christ, and Rome's gospel 
in this chapter, he wiU not be surprised of the church's 
attitude towards the Bible. 

The word of God is the best interpretation of itself, 
but where does it state that the church of Rome is to 
monopolize the word of God, and substitute for it with 
the people human doctrines? 

And if neither expressly, or by implication it says 
so, surely Rome is culpable for corrupting the truth, and 
leading souls into error and perdition. For the un- 
pardonable sin of daring to translate the Bible into Eng- 
lish, this church bitterly persecuted Wycliflfe. Even after 
the death of this great and good man, the papal authori- 
ties had his bones raised from the grave, sat in council 
upon him, and denounced him as a "dangerous heretic." 
In the famous council of Constance the following decree 
was passed against his ashes: '^This holy synod de- 
clares, defines, and records that the same John Wyclifie 



50 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

was a notorious and pertinacious heretic, and that he 
died in heresy; that his body and bones be dug up and 
cast away from the church burying place, according to 
canonical appointment." A canon of Leicester also con- 
demned him in these terms: "By this means of translat- 
ing the Bible, the gospel is made vulgar, and laid open to 
the laity, and even to women who can read." Surely 
such decrees flavor more of Paganism than of Christi- 
anity, and are certainly contrary to the will of God, who 
desires that all should read his word. He even, com- 
mands it: "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think 
ye have eternal life." "These were more noble than 
those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with 
all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, 
whether those things were so." (Acts 17:11.) 

If it were right and praiseworthy for those common 
people in the time of the Apostles to search and read the 
Scriptures, whence does Rome now get the authority to 
condemn the reading of them by her people? To say 
that a few Italian gentlemen have received a monoply of 
the word of God to the exclusion of all other people and 
nations is to deny the gospel of Christ, and make the 
Saviour of the world a false teacher. "Seek ye out of the 
book of the Lord and read." (Isa. 34:16.) 

Let us compare some of Rome's infallible teaching 
with the doctrine of the gospel. 

R. C. Doctrine: 

Our holy father the pope, the bishop of Rome is the 
vicar of Christ on earth, and the visible head of the 
church." 

Gospel Doctrine: 

"For the husband is head of the wife, even as Christ 
is the head of the church." (Ephes. 5:23.) 

R. C. Doctrine: 

"Baptism is necessary to salvation, because without 
it we cannot enter into the kingdont^otheaven." 

Gospel Doctrine: 

"For by grace are ye saved through faith and that 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtai:ts, 51 

not of yourselves it is the gift of God." (Ephes. 2:8.) 

E. C^ Doctrine: 

"Purgatory is a middle state, where the souls de- 
tained there in are helped by the suffrages of the faith- 
ful, and principally by the holy sacrifice of the mass." 

Gospel Doctrine: 

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them 
which are in Christ Jesus." (Rom. 8:1.) 

R. C. Man can perfectly keep the law of God, and 
earn for himself eternal life by his own good works. 

Script. "For there is not a just man upon earth 
that doeth good and sinneth not." (Eccl. 7:20.) 

"The heart is deceitful above all things and desper- 
ately wicked. (Jer. 17:9.) 

R. C. "Mortal sin is that which kills the soul in a 
spiritual manner, except confessed and absolved by the 
priest. But venial sin is that which does not kill the 
soul, and may be pardoned by indulgences and perform- 
ances of other good works. 

Script. "Cursed is every one that continueth not 
in all things which are written in the book of the law to 
do them." (Gal. 3:10.) 

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet 
offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (Jas. 2:10.) 

R. C. — We are justified by baptism and the holy 
sacraments administered by the priests. 

Script. — "A man is justified by faith without the 
deeds of the law." (Rom. 3:28.) 

"There is therefore, now no condemnation to them 
which are in Christ Jesus." (Rom. 8:1.) 

R. C. — To believe in the holy Roman Catholic 
church is necessary above all things in order to be 
saved." 

Script. — *'For by grace are ye saved through faith, 
and that not of yourselves, it is the ofift of God; not by 
works, lest any man should boast. (Ephes. 2.) 

"Whosoever will, let him take the water of life 
freely." (Rev. 22:17.) 



52 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains* 

R. C. — "Penance is a holy sacrament instituted by 
Christ for the remission of sins committed after baptism. 

Script, — "Without shedding of blood is no remis- 
sion." The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from alL 
sin." (1 John 1:7.) 

E,. C. — "If any man saith that it is by the righte- 
ousness of Christ that men are formally justified, let him 
be anathema." (Council of Trent, Sess. 6, Canon 10.) 

Script. — But to him that worketh not but believeth 
on him that justified the ungodly, his faith is counted for 
righteousness." (Rom. 4:5.) 

"He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no 
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in 
Him." (2 Cor. 5:21.) 

R. C. — "If any one saith that the good works of one 
that is justified, are in such a manner the gifts of God 
that they are not also the good merits of him who is 
justified, let him be anathema." (Council of Trent, 
Sess. 6, Canon, 3:2.) 

Script. — "But we are all as an unclean thing, and 
all our righteousness are as filthy rags." (Isa. ^\i\^^ 

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the washing 
of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." 
(Titus 3:5.) 

R. C. — "The holy mass is the same sacrifice of the 
cross though offered up by the priest in an unbloody 
manner for the living and the dead. 

Script. — "For then must he often have suffered, 
since the foundation of the world, but now once in the^ 
end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by 
the sacrifice of himself." (Heb. 9:26.) 

There has been but one offering of Christ — one 
sacrifice which is infinite in its merits and sufficient to 
make full atonement to God without the aid of poor sin- 
ful man. There is but one sacrificeT^ne Saviour and 
mediator, one probation and one decision, papal sacrifices 



Fifteefi Years Behind the Curtains, 53 

mediators, purgatories and judgments to the contrary 
notwithstanding . 

R. C. Doctrine: 

"The mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and 
blood of Christ in which is ofiered a true, proper and 
propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead." 

Gospel Doctrine: 

''And every priest standeth daily ministering and 
oflTering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never 
take away sins. But this man (Jesus) after he had offer- 
ed one sacrifice for ever sat down on the right hand of 
God." (Heb. 10:11, 12.) 

R. C. Doctrine: 

"Confession is the telling of our sins to a duly au- 
thorized priest for the purpose of obtaining forgiveness." 

Gospel Doctrine : 

"Come unto me all ye that labor, and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28.) 

R. C. Doctrine: 
"The Holy Eucharist, that is the„Lord's Supper, is the 
sacrament which contains the body and blood, soul and 
divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the appearance of 
bread and wine." 

Gospel Doctrine: 

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth 
nothing, the words that I speak unto you they are spirit, 
and they are life." (John 6:63.) "For the Kingdom of 
God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace, 
and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Rom. 14:17.) 

R. C. Doctrine: 

"Why do priests and bishops not marry? Because 
celibacy is a holier state, and reccommended by the 
Apostles." 

Gospel Doctrine. 

"And when Jesus w^as come into Peter's house, he 
saw his wife's mother laid and sick of a fever." (Matt. 
8:14.) "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband 
of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to 



54 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine." (1 Tim. 
3:1,2.) "Now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the 
latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving 
heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking 
lies in hypocrisy '"• forbidding to marry, and command- 
ing to abstain from meats." (ITim. 4:1,2,3.) 
R. C. Doctrine: 

"It is good and profitable to invoke the Saints, that 
is to have recourse to their intercession and prayers, and 
their relics are to be held in veneration." 

Gospel Doctrine: 

"For there is one God, and one Mediator between 
God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim. 2:5.) 

"I am the way, the truth and the life. No man 
cometh unto the father but by me." (John 14:16.) 

E,. C. Doctrine: 

"The images of Christ, of the Mother of God, ever 
Virgin, and also of other Saints may be retained and due 
honor and veneration given them." 

Gospel Doctrine : 

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, 
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or 
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under 
the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, 
nor serve them, for I am the Lord thy God." (Exod. 
20:3,4,5.) 

R. C. Doctrine: 

"Baptism is administered by sprinkling water on 
the forehead, and at the same time, saying, I baptize 
thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the 
Holy Ghost." 

Gospel Doctrine : 

"And Jesus when he was baptized went up straight- 
way out of the water." (Matt. 3:16.) "And when they 
went down both into the water, both Philip and the 
Eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were 
come up out of the water the Spirit^ofthe Lord caught 
away Philip." (Acts. 8:38,39.) ^ 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 55 

R. C. Doctrine: 

''Infants ought to be baptized as soon as possible, 
and godfathers and godmothers may promise in the 
name of the child what the child itself would promise if 
it had the use of reason." 

Gospel Doctrine: 

"Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized, 
every one of yoa in the name of Jesus Christ for the re- 
mission of sins. Then they that gladly received the 
word were baptized." (Acts 2:38,41.) We have no in- 
stance of children being baptized in the early church, or 
even adults, before they were first converted. The 
Apostle Paul was first converted, and afterwards bap- 
tized. And he received sight forthwith, and arose and 
was baptized." (Acts 9:18.) 

It is evident from the holy Scripture that the mode 
of Baptism was by immersion — not sprinkling, and that 
it never was considered a saving ordinance. It was ad- 
ministered only to those who were capable of believing 
and repenting. It is nowhere shown in the Bible that 
members of churches are made Christians by baptism, by 
great-grandfathers, or great-grand-mothers, or in any 
other way by proxy. It is an insult to God, and an act 
of injustice to the individual himself to pronounce him- 
just when he is still unjust; to declare him a believer, 
when incapable of eliciting an act of faith; to say that he 
is converted when still an unbeliever. 

For example, a priest visits a notorious sinner, and 
thinking that he is at the point of death, says to him: 
"In order to be saved you must believe in the Holy 
Roman Catholic church. God has founded a true 
church, and has given its ministers power to baptize and 
forgive sins, and that church is the Roman Catholic 
church." Do you believe in her?" "I do." "Do you 
believe in all she teaches, has taught, and ever will 
teach?" "I do." Then the priest baptizes him, absolves 
him and bids him go in peace. But is that criminal 
really converted? The Roman Catholic church says he 



56 I^ifteen Years Behind the Curtains » 

is, if he but make an act of contrition and profess belief 
in the Romish church. But is his heart really changed 
by a few words of the lips, uttered by him or the priest 
or both together? 

Certainly not. To any ecclesiastical person, hold- 
ing out the inducement of salvation, nearly every 
illiterate sinner through selfishness will promise to com- 
ply with conditions so easy of fulfilment that he has only 
to say the word and it is done. A priest in this manner 
may go into a penitentiary and make converts by the 
wholesale. It is easy for the condemned criminal to 
make a profession of the Romish faith, and it is as easy 
for the priest to say "I forgive thee thy sins in the name 
of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Go in peace." 
Give any priest a brush of bristles, a pot of holy water 
and a lighted candle, with a little salt, and he can go 
through a multitude of prisoners and hardened sinners 
and make more Romanists in a day than ever the 
Apostles made Christians in a month. All the priest 
needs to accomp?ish the miracle is to have the multitude 
present, and obtain their consent to submit to the watery 
spray. 

Rom. C. Doctrine: 

"It is necessary to freely profess and sincerely hold 
the true Roman Catholic Faith without which no one can 
be saved." 

Gospel Doctrine : 

"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ — and thou shalt 
be saved." (Acts 16:31.) 

R. C. Doctrine: 

"Marriage is unlawful for priests, nuns and 
monks." 

Gospel Doctrine: 

"Marriage is honorable in all." (Heb. 13:4.) 

R. C. Doctrine: 

"The Blessed Virgin, Mother of God is the refuge 
of sinners, to whose holy protection-^^:^ must ever have 
recourse." 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 57 

Gospel Doctrine: 

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way the truth and 
the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." 
(John 14:6.) "For whosoever shall call upon the name 
of the Lord shall be saved." (Eom. 10:13.) 

R. C. Doctrine: 

"Even the just — go to Purgatory after death in 
order to expiate their sins and the temporal punishment 
due them." 

Gospel Doctrine: 

"And Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee, 
to day shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43.) 
"There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them 
which are in Christ Jesus." (Rom. 8:1.) 

R. C. Doctrine: 

"The priest gi^'es us a penance after confession that 
we may satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to 
our sins." 

Gospel Doctrine: 

"Therefore being justified by faith we have peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. 5: 1.) 

R. C. Doctrine: 

"If we wish to lead a good lift, we must confess fre- 
quently to the priest." 

Gospel Doctrine: 

"I am the vine, ye are the branches; he thatabideth 
in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." 
(John 16:5.) 

R. C. Doctrine: 

"Believe in the Holy Roman Catholic church and 
keep the commandments, and thou shalt ne saved." 

Qr. — "What are the commandments of the church?" 

A. — 1. "To hear mass on Sundays and holy days." 

2. — "To fast and abstain from flesh meat on all Fri- 
days and eat but one full meal every day throughout 
Lent." 

3. — "To confess sins to a priest at least once a year, 
and that about Easter time." 



58 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

4. — "To receive the Holy Eucharist about Easter 
time." 

6. — "To contribute to the support of the pastors of 
the church." 

6. — "To not marry Protestants or those related to 
us within the fourth degree." 

Gospel Doctrine: 

"For what saith the Scripture: "Abraham believed 
God, and it was counted to him for righteousness: "But 
to him that worketh not but believeth on him that 
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteous- 
ness." (Rom. 4:5.) It is evident from this that we are 
justified by faith, and not by works. And the faith by 
which we are so justified is not a work. It is a free gift 
o' God. It is a receptive quality and disposition of the 
^oul that receives God's salvation, free and accessible to 
all. It is not a work to receive a gift. But to receive 
God's salvation thro' faith in Jesus Christ is the greatest 
gift of the Almighty within the reach of the human soul. 
^'By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of 
yourselves, it is the gift of God." 

Enough I trust of the holy Scriptures is here 
quoted to show any candid mind the palpable errors 
<of Rome in setting up a doctrine of men contradicted by 
the plain teaching of Jesus Christ and the practice of 
Jiis blessed Apostles. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 59 

CHAPTER V. 

What Priests Love Most. 

In this chapter will be described what is the besetting 
sin of Roman Catholic priests. All men have predomin- 
ating passions and desires for some pleasure or other, and 
the priests are no exception to the general rule. Out of 
480 students in the Roman Catholic seminary in which I 
studied, four hundred and eighty knew Latin, and seemed 
to relish its translation. About two hundred knew Greek, 
and had little or no love for that language. One was 
acquainted with astronomy; and three understood the 
ordinary branches of logic, natural philosophy, geology 
and mathematics. One knew how to preach a sermon; 
and four hundred and sixty-two knew how to drink 
liquor and smoke "the pipe of peace." This is not say- 
ing much to the credit of the young Levites. Since 
leaving that seminary I have met several of these fellow 
students who are now priests in charge of Catholic 
congregations. 

How one of these men gets through with a sermon 
every Sunday is still a mystery to me; but he gets through 
it all the same. His first effort was, however, a complete 
failure. Before writing his sermon he remembered the 
advice of his professor, " to get full of his subject before 
writing or preaching." So on this occasion the subject 
selected was "Intoxicating Liquor," which the priest 
took in the literal sense, and got so full of the subject 
that he was unable to write it, much less preach it. He 
made an attempt to deliver it, but hopelessly broke 
down, and exposed his drunkenness to the large congre- 
gation present. 

While a majority of the clergy love the pipe, some 
have an uncontrollable passion for rabbits, hounds and 
fast horses. One thing may, however, be put down as 
the chief object of all their love and affection; and that 
one thing is wine, with women and money. This triple 



60 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

allurement is enthroned in nearly every priest's heart as 
his special deity, to which he offers daily sacrifice of 
obedience, affection and adoration. Priests who made 
princes, nobles and scholars prostrate before them in 
submission, have been known, themselves, to succumb to 
the fascinations of a fair damsel. Priests who refused to 
submit to the highest civil authority, have been known 
to bend the knee to the Goddess Venus, and worship on 
the altar of her heart. Priests whom giants could not 
drive to duty, have been gently led on silk threads by 
the captivating smiles of a pretty senorita or prepossess- 
ing /^^(gmm^. 

After leaving the seminary, and before being 
ordained, I was invited by a middle-aged priest, a pastor 
of souls, to accompany him to a house which he said was 
"haunted," and from which he was to exorcise an evil spirit. 
I believed, of course, he enjoyed that power which was 
to be conferred on myself a few days after, and I 
accepted his invitation to the house to perform the cere- 
mony of casting out devils. As we entered the man- 
sion — more respectable looking than the ordinary 
home of the Roman Catholic — the lady of the house 
waited on the door and ushered us into the parlor. The 
lady favorably impressed us. She was not only hand- 
some, but pretty, and apparently educated. After being 
seated a few minutes, the priest said: "Mr. Donnelly, 
you wait here until I come in. I have to go up stairs, 
you know, and wait in the dark for the evil spirit." Both 
he and the lady went up stairs, while three young people 
and myself kept one another in company by talking over 
the beauty of Cicero's Latin and Virgil's poetry, and the 
current events of the day. But we talked ourselves out, 
and, for the want of a subject, were as still as oysters, 
when, after waiting near three hours his reverence came 
down stairs and the lady a few minutes later. We 
started for home a little after midnight. Among other 
things I said as we walked along the lonely suburban 
road: "And did you sit all that time in the dark up 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 61 

stairs ?" "Yes," said he. "Why had you not a light, so 
as to see what the evil spirit was like and witness how it 
conducted itself?" "Why, man, is that all you know 
about ghosts. They never appear except in the dark." 
<'How, then," said I, "would one know it was a ghost if 
he could not see it in the roomf "Oh, very easily; you 
see it comes and makes a racket, the lady said, and goes 
into the buttery, removes the dishes, slams the door, and 
walks over the folks in bed." " What would you do," 
said I, " if the ghost had entered the room?" "I would 
have commanded it in the name of the Father, Son and 
Holy Ghost to betake itself into an empty bottle." 
"Where was the bottle?" "Eight in the corner of the 
bed room." Said I, then: "If I were a priest to-morrow 
I could do what you do, catch evil spirits, and cork them 
in bottles; and if I could do that, I don't believe I would 
be afraid to sit up-stairs in the dark, alone; nor would 1 
be afraid to walk home along this road in the silent hours 
of night. I think I would have faith according to the 
power I would Avield." " Yes, that's true; man, I wasn't 
afraid of anything. I just brought you along as a wit- 
ness if anything turned up, you know." 

As years passed by, and experience extended, my 
doubts matured into convictions, and I was aware to my 
regret that " haunted houses " were priestly inventions, 
and the appearance of ghosts the result of hypocrisy and 
superstition. I firmly believed then, as now, that if any 
evil spirits visited the homes of Roman Catholics they 
were the priests themselves, who too frequently play 
those old Pagan games on the credulity of a trusting 
people. And the worst feature of the whole miraculous 
business is, that it is practiced for selfish motives, to 
make money and indulge the passions in carnal sins. 

After living in debauch and sensuality for days at a 
time, the priest begins to rend his garments, but not his 
heart. There lies the mischief. The same old heart, 
predisposed to evil, is there. The same will, inclined to 
worldly pleasure, is not eradicated. The feeling is 



62 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

remorse, anger with himself and everybody else because 
he has offended a good and merciful God. There is no 
rest for the wicked. So the priest finds little, or no rest, 
even after he goes to confession and obtains absolution 
from a brother priest. To go to work, to polish over 
the soul, after being defiled with sin, is no cure of heart, 
for it remains full of extortion and excess. During this 
mental torture and accusijig voice of conscience, telling 
the priest he did wrong, and that it was an evil thing for 
him to have left the Lord his God, and dug for himself 
broken cisterns w^hich can hold no water; still he knoAvs 
not how to get spiritually healed, because he knows not 
how to approach the source of all life to be cured of his 
maladies. He comes not to Jesus for salvation, and thus 
continues in sin, and dies, as he lived, an impenitent sin- 
ner. He suffers all through life from actual sin and its 
effects, and don't know where the root of the sin is. 
Like the Celt from the "Green Isle," who said to the 
doctor as he was taking his pulse : "There is no use in 
feeling my wrist, doctor; the pain is not there; it is in 
my head entirely." 

Speaking one day to the bishop of our diocese, I 

said: "Bishop, how is Father , I haven't seen 

him in the diocese for a lono' time?" "Oh, he is oroinfi: 
to the bad with drink," said his lordship. " Drink, drink, 
drink is no name for it. He would drmk the penny from 
a dead man's eye." 

The bishop was always, I must say, kind and social 
with me, and this day, felt in his best spirits, smoking his 
peculiar, long pipe, with one end on his chin and the 
other away down on the arm of the rocking chair, with a 
pile of ashes and spit all over the floor. In fact, the 
atmosphere of the room was one dense cloud of tobacco 
fumes, so suffocating to me, never accustomed to tobacco, 
that I arose and let down the window from the top, tell- 
ing the bishop to excuse me, and hoping it was not too 
cold for him. As for me, said I, "I feel very hot." 
Kesuming details of the priest referred to, the bishop 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 68 

said: "Why, he got on a spree two weeks ago, came to 
my house drunk, got the keys of the wine cellar, entered 
and locked himself in, and drank himself almost to death 
before we got him out (loAvering his voice on the last sen- 
tence to a whisper). " What did you do with him, 
bishop?" "We pried open the door, when he sprang 
past us, as nimble as a rabbit, and ran to the house- 
keeper's bed room, where he also turned the key in the 
door and locked us out. We didn't A^^nt to break any 
more doors with hatchets, so we sent for the policeman, 
who is a good Catholic. He came, opened the door and 
fired him off to the lockup under a fictitious name of a 
"common drunk." Next morning, as he sobered up, the 
policeman went to his cell and threatened him w^ith prose- 
cution if he did not leave the city immediately and 
promise never to return. But, sure, I learn the man is 
back again, and may give us more trouble any time. I 
think. Father Donnelly, you have better take him down 
here and put him to work as your assistant, that is, 
should he return and hang around the diocese. You 
could do more for him than any of us. He would help 
you hear confessions, visit sick calls, preach for you occa- 
sionally. The people here don't know him, and it would 
save the church a pile of scandal." "No, bishop, I don't 
want him; I will not have him on any account. We have 
no wine cellars here, and the first thing he would do 
would be to go for the altar wine in the church, and I am 
afraid the people would have to go without mass often if 
he got at the "cruets" early on Sunday morning. It 
would take a week, at least, to replace the wine, and I'll 
take no chances." "Oh, now, reconsider the matter," 
said the bishop, " you can draw the lines oji him and 
make him obey you." "I will not, bishop. If you force 
him here I will leave the parish altogether. If you cannot 
draw the lines on him, how could I, who am no bishop, 
and, therefore, without power to suspend or excommu- 
nicate." 

I quote this incident to show what the priest loves 



64 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

most — what his inclinations are bent on, so that the 
character of the life may be better understood. 

The priest who promises daily to read a breviary, 
and afterwards devotes his time to the society of young 
women, cards and drink, to the omission entirely of the 
breviary, is evidence that he loves these the most and the 
breviary the least. The priest who drinks intoxicating 
liquors before he ascends the altar proves by his acts that 
he loves drink more than obedience to the command of 
the church, which obliges him under the^ pain of con- 
demnation to say mass and receive the host on an empty 
stomach. The priest who charges ten dollars for a high 
mass, and then either never says it or gets another poor 
priest to celebrate it for a dollar, loves worldly lucre 
more than he does the sanctity of the mass and the 
reputed sacredness of holy things. "Actions speak louder 
than words;" and such actions as these evince the 
hypocrisy of the Romish Catholic clergy more than any- 
thing that can be said or written thereof. 

All priests take an oath at ordination to read their 
"office" daily and observe the law of celibacy. Very few 
of them, I am sorry to say, keep these solemn promises. 
But of the two ecclesiastical obligations, with that of 
reading the daily "office," the great majority comply 
with. For them to mumble its Latin sentences off in a 
mechanical manner, seems to be of more importance than 
that of observing the law of chastity and holy purity. 
They make two solemn vows, one of reading the breviary, 
another of observing purity; and in keeping them they 
imitate the Connaught man who signed two pledges, but 
kept neither. 

Perhaps the reader will say, oh, what wicked men 
these priest must be! No, they are not half as bad as 
would be expected, when one is acquainted with the dry, 
formal, devilish nature of the whole system of Rome. 
"Evil communications corrupt good morals." From the 
day the student enters the college to the time he comes 
out a full fledged priest he sees nothing but drunkenness 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains » 65 

among his superiors, and old priests fi'om whom he would 
look for better things. Bad examples of old priests, 
bishops and cardinals drinldng wines, whiskies and cham- 
pagnes at their meetings and royal festivals cause the 
young student to look upon wine drinking as a social, 
friendly pastime, sanctioned and practiced by the high- 
est authorities in the church. Besides this, the unnatural 
way the priests are obliged to liv^e, gives them a propensity 
to the habits and customs of their spiritual leaders. "Bend 
the twig — bend the tree." The customs and bad habits 
of the entire hierarchy bend the clergy to be what they 
are, drunken sots. 

Many a priest has amiable qualities and commend- 
able principles; but these are not the result of any sacra- 
ments or teaching of the church. The church claims to 
make her ministers holy by purification and ceremonial 
cleansing. She sets them aside, separated from other 
people by ecclesiastical marks; but that never renders 
them holy. It may give them the appearance of holiness. 
It may confer formal and ecclesiastical holiness, which is 
not holiness at all. Holiness is direct from God, and is 
the efiect of a regenerate soul. The heart, not converted, 
cannot be holy, no matter what sort of a hat the man 
may wear. The make of his neck collar, his pants or 
coat or vestments, has nothing to do with conferring 
sanctity on the wearer. The annointing of a priest's 
thumb, forefinger and forehead with oil by a bishop may 
designate the clergy as a peculiar people, unlike others, 
but certainly it never makes holy or spiritual men. 
Hence, as the clergy are made formal and unholy by the 
church and her unholy doctrines, she, and she alone, is 
responsible for the sin and iniquity of those who serve 
her altars. She pretends to make the man holy, and, 
therefore, intercepts his personal access to the author of 
all sanctity, Jesus Christ, the Savior of men. 

"Every one that loveth is born of God, and has been 
created in Christ Jesus into good works." (1 John 4:7.) 
He that is born of God, is like God, lives in an environ- 



66 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

ment of love, holiness and mercy and every Christian 
virtue. He could live nowhere else; for the want of 
adaptation to sinful surroundings; he avoids sin in spite 
of every temptation. 

He will be "kept by the power of God through faith 
unto salvation." (1 Peter 1:5.) We must love God^ 
and what pertains to God, above all things else. "Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all 
thy strength." "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh 
not all that he hath cannot be my disciple." 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains » 67 

CHAPTER VI. 

What Priests Love Most. 

(Continued.) 

In the last chapter it has been stated that all priests 
are not to be blamed for their deplorable condition. No> 
let us pity them, rather than cast reproach. With a 
minority of these men I certainl}^ feel the greatest 
sympathy, for I know many who would come out from 
the system of bondage if they only knew how to leave 
and how to make a living a^ter their liberation. They 
have neither the phj^sical grit, nor the mental training 
to go into any of our ordinary industries to make an 
honest living. One priest said to me: "Oh, I wish to 
God I had no parents, brothers, or sisters, or relatives 
living, I would leave the priesthood at once; but if I left 
now they would make it a hell for me on earth." 

Said I to him: "Are you not ready to sacrifice all 
these, or any of them for the sake of Jesus 
Christ w^ho gave himself up for you? Has He not de- 
clared: 'Every one that hath forsaken house, or 
brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or 
children, or lands for my name's sake shall receive a 
hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.' " "Well," 
said he, "my poor mother's heart would be broken. She 
is living in my house. My sister also keeps house for 
me. They believe that priests are angels, and that their 
church is heaven on earth. It is hard to remove from 
my mother the only little comfort she enjoys in this 
life." This feeling represents the sentiments of hundreds 
of otherwise good priests in the United States who would 
leave if only a door were open and they could see their 
way. Worclly attachments hold most of them where 
they are. They sell their souls to satan for vanity, for 
fleeting corporeal pleasures. They act in the most foolish 
manner, and don't seem to realize their dangerous posi- 
tion. Like the man on the hod, they are constantly in 



€8 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

peril. Pat made a bet of a dollar with Mike that he 
could carry a hod full of bricks up three ladders to the 
top of a building with Mike sitting on the hod. The 
ladders were on the outside of the building. On the 
third ladder Pat made a misstep, but caught himself in 
time to save Mike falling forty feet to the stone side- 
walk below. Arriving at the top, Pat said: "Begorra, 
I have won the dollar." ''Yes," replied Mike, "but when 
you slipped I thought I had you." People who love 
danger shall perish therein, whether they be aware of it 
or not. But the priest who candidly concedes the cor- 
ruption of his church, of the lives of the clergy, and the 
material effect of its teaching on the souls of men, but 
yet confesses his reluctance to withdraw therefrom be- 
cause of the apprehended dissatisfaction of relations, is 
unfit for the kingdom of God. He is unworthy of trust 
in any earthly kingdom, for no human power, or princi- 
pality, can rely on his loyalty and devotion. 

"A little straw shows how the wind blows." I will 
here relate another experience relative to his reverential 
delectation : 

A certain clergyman, considered by his brethern 
and flock as a great man of high standing in the diocese, 
sent for me one day to console him in his sickness. He 
had a large, beautiful church building and a convent in 
his parish, where young ladies were received for instruc- 
tion and board in the institution. It contained 14 nuns 
and -215 boarding pupils. I was designated by the 
bishop of the diocese to visit the institution once a 
month to hear the confessions of the nuns, as an ''ex- 
traordinary confessor" they having their own regular 
confessor every week, who was at the same time their 
pastor. The office of an "extraordinary confessor" in 
the church of Eome is something like a visiting super- 
intendent of church police to ascertain how the pulse of 
the conscience and the secrets of hearts are working. It 
is offered to all nuns as a helpful means of disposing of 
things of a private nature which they might be ashamed 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 6& 

of confessing to their own pastor, whom they dailj^ see, 
and with whom they are obliged to converse on ordinary 
secular matters. 

With the priest's message to proceed to his house 
as he was "dangerously ill," I complied. Without feeling 
his pulse, or having him extend his tongue to see were it 
coated, or asking him any questions, I fathomed the 
bottom of his malady. It was the old disease, too much 
whiskey. In fact, the man was on a debauch. His sys- 
tem was out of order. He was nervous, constipated, 
sleepless, loquacious; for to use the words of the old poet 
Horace, he was speaking "de omnibus rebus et quibus- 
dam aliis," (about all things and something else.) 

But, to my surprise, a young lady, a lay sister, from 
the convent was w^aiting on him in his sick chamber. It 
impressed me as unbecoming the young lady to be there, 
at all; but, more so, w^hen I thought she was co-operat- 
ing in continuing drunkness by administering to the 
wants of an inveterate drunkard. For her to be there 
was unnecessary. He was rich and could have employ- 
ed several male w^aiters; besides he had his own house- 
keeper, and his every day valet. After talking with him 
a few minutes, he asked what I thought of his condition. 
"I tell you candidly w^hat I do think, yon are not sick. 
It is immagination, you ought to be up at work." 

"What?" Said he, "I work? Whoever heard tell 
of a priest working?" 

I called at the convent to report matters to the old 
mother superioress, for I believed if she but knew the 
the gravity oi the circumstances, encompassing the 
female inmate of that institution, stie would not permit 
her to rexuain a moment. It was a matter of conscience 
with me, and I related to the presiding nun how the 
priest was situated. "Sister," said I, "I want to tell you, 

Father is badly under the effects of whiskey. I 

advise you, as a father confessor, to take your young 
lady home. It is not her place to wait on a sober man, 
much less, a drunken sot." 



70 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

"Are you sure Father, it is intoxicating drink, I 
believed he was a temperate man?" 

"Well," said I, "if you don't believe me, go down 
and see for yourself. He has the bottle by his bed-side. 
He offered to treat me to its contents, and I am sure he 
will show a similar kindness to you, should you honor 
him with a visit." 

"Oh may God bless you, and may his blessed 
Mother and your guardian angel protect you for this 

favor. I will have Miss — come home right away." 

^'Please do," said I, for I suspected her attitude toAvards 
the intemperate priest, as one of hypocritical white- 
washing and religious cloaking. "You know," said I, "if 
he were really sick, he should call in a physician and a 
regular hospital nurse, and not a young inexperienced 
lady from your convent. She is here as a boarder, a 
pupil under your care and responsibility. She is far 
from her parents. They would not allow her to enter your 
roof if they did not put implicit confidence in you as a 
mother superioress of this institution. I know you will 
never be the cause of that confidence being abused. I 
know you will never let any pupil from this place be" 
scandahzed, or the church be dishonored." ''Oh, God 
forbid!" said she, raising up her clasped hands to 
heaven with an accompanying elevation of the white of 
the eyes. But what astonished me more than any other 
experience ever had with nuns and convents, was thkt 
the sister superioress acted the hypocrite and did not 
oompel her pupil to return. She remained with the 
priest for weeks, until finally he drank himself to death. 
He died as he lived, a sot, an impenitent sinner; and if 
any one is to be held responsible, as a partaker of an- 
other's sin, surely it is that mother superioress. 
They were all strangers to that scripture, which says : 
" Mortify therefore your members which are upon the 
earth; fornication, uncleanliness, inordinate affection, evil 
concupiscence and covetousness, which is idolatry." 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 71 

CHAPTER VII. 

Life of The Priest. 

Priests do not live much. A man's years may be 
oounted by the number and variety of his thoughts. He 
who lives a year in mental research and intellectual 
experiences lives more in that time than the irrational, 
mechanical man who lives three score and ten. The 
one enjoys the life of angels; the other that of the 
brutes. But the priests, with few exceptions, are not 
men of thought. The customs and habits of the priest- 
hood, the discipline of their church, and the antagonistic 
nature of the entire system of Rome are diametrically 
opposed to free, individual development of the resources 
of the mind. 

The nature of the seven sacraments predisposes him 
who administers them to an easy, unconscious, stereotyped 
sort of life. To sit in the confessional box daily to hear 
the sins of men and women, instead of uplifting and 
-advancing the literary man, tends to stagnate intellectual 
growth and cause the intellect to run in a moral rut of 
faith. He does not need to investigate for himself, or 
people. The church has that cut and dry. He does not 
want to prepare a logical discourse for the congregation, 
nor do they want it, or even need it; for the church has 
no problems to be solved, no methods of believing and 
practicing to be analyzed. That would argue want of 
faith in the infallible (?) church, and hence, is never 
attempted. 

The discipline of the church requires the priest in 
his private life at home, in the church, and in his resi- 
dence to wear a cassock, that is a long black tunic reach- 
ing to the feet, and resembling a kind of Mother Hubbard 
gown. In appearance it unsexes the wearer, making him 
neither man or woman, but a little of both. Very few of 
the priests, however, live up to the rule. Their social 
pleasures and worldly amusements are such that they can 



72 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

get around more conveniently in citizen's clothes. They 
are also expected, according to disciplinary rules, to 
wear a "berretta," a three-cornered cap with a tassel of 
silk. This headgear is, also, dispensed with except on 
episcopal and other solemn occasions. The ecclesiastical 
laws in addition, command the priest under the pain of 
mortal sin to read daily a "divine office," a prayer book, 
made up of selections from the Scriptures, fi'om Roman 
Catholic saints and traditions. All these exercises con- 
tribute nothing to expand the mind in knowledge or the 
heart in grace. The priest who reads his office is no 
holier than the one who neglects it. When he sins, con- 
fesses, and does penance, the heart remains unchanged. 
The great mistake all priests make is taking ''penance" 
for "repentance." He who repents and believes, "dies 
unto sin and lives unto God;" so that he cannot con- 
tinue any more in sin. But the priest wallows in the 
same sins from week to week and month to month, and 
goes to the same confessor all the time, except he be 
refused the sacrament on account of the frequency and 
enormity of his crimes. That, however, is surmounted 
by the penitent, for he goes to a new confessor who is 
not acquainted with the multitude of transgressions which 
he confessed for months to the former confessor, and 
promised to reform. The new confessor grants absolu- 
tion, as he thinks the confession made to him then and 
there is but the first violation, and thus such "penitent 
priests" keep on from year to year, changing their con- 
fessors, often going away monthly to priests and monks 
of other cities and other states who do not know them. 

The life of the priest never can be holy until his 
heart be first set right with God. 

His life would change if, instead of going to confes- 
sion to another priest, he went to God through Jesus 
Christ, and repented and prayed for a right spirit. 
"Create in me a clean heart, O, God, and renew a right 
spirit within me." As God gives to those who ask, He 
would give his spirit in a large measure to purge and to 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 73 

purify once for all, so that the priest no longer would 
need to go to confess his bad thoughts, his immodest 
language and sensual acts, for he would not commit 
them. He could not sin in this manner for the reason 
that the new heart would generate new thoughts, and 
thoughts would give rise to pure Christian language and 
holy living. "From the heart the mouth speaketh," 
and the body acts. But the priest has not the "new 
heart." He is not "born again." He is not "converted." 
The priests are batchelors by compulsion, not by 
choice, for most of them would, like other men, take 
wives unto themselves if no ecclesiastical law stood in 
the way. Li^^ing a life against nature is about the hard- 
est part of the priesthood. A man capable of marrying, 
and who does not marry, is likie a building half finished, 
he is good for nothing. His course is downward. When 
absent there is no attraction to bring him home; in fact 
he has no home, because he wants what constitutes the 
real home, a wife, children, love. He is deprived of the 
elevating and instructive influence of children. He has 
nothing to live for, nothing to inspire and stimulate to 
unselfishness. Hence, he grows selfish, harsh, uncharit- 
able, unsympathetic; constrained by none of the finer 
cords of the human heart, his life is, for the most part, 
barren of all tender sentiments. He may be said to 
be a dead man in his own house. Many a week passes 
by without his knowledge of the days thereof! Many a 
week he is around only one day therein, and that is 
Sunday. He has, at least, one mass to say that morning 
for his people, and when he acquits himself of that 
peculiar work he retires to whence he emerged — the 
blankets, where he again has recourse to the intoxicating 
cup, to remove cares and cheer the physical man. I 
knew a priest who was only semi-sober on Sunday for 
years; and, singular to say, though he had been drunk 
all week, on the Sabbath he managed to appear before 
his people and please them with a sermon; but that was 
not hard to do. One of his congregation said to me: 



74 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

"The poor man, God bless him, isn't it a pity!" Said I: 
"He will lose his church if he continues drinking." 
"What!" said he, "he go away from here, never! I w^ould 
rather have him drank six days of the week, and preach 
for us on Sunday, than other priests who are sober all 
the time. Why man, bless your soul, his reverence is a 
credit to us on the altar of a Sunday. You can hear him 
preach four blocks away, and people come from all over 
to hear him. He is a great man, and I believe can work 
miracles that no other priest can do." That man, and 
he is no exception, was dead, humanly speaking, during 
the week to natural life. He was living no more in his 
house than the deceased gentleman w^as in the mansion 
from which he was buried. "And who lives there in that 
big stone house?" said Michael to his companion. ''Why 
the old gentleman I was telling you of that died last 
winter of a fever.". 

Well, the reader may ask what happens if a visitor 
for the priest call and he be in that condition? His 
housekeeper is posted in theology, and never gives his 
reverence away to "the laity," bat tells them he is "not 
at home." About seventy-five times out of a hundred 
when any priest's housekeeper says "not at home" it 
means "at home, and drunk in bed." A gentleman at 
Philadelphia said to me one day: "Why is it that the 
priests are not so truthful as the Protestant ministers?" 
"Are they not?" said I, anxious at that time to uphold my 
cloth. "No, sir, they are not."" How?" "Oh, in every 

thing. Let me tell thee confidentially I am in the 

business; have an opportunity to know. Rev. Father 

told me to call at his house about the order. I 

asked him what time. He said Thursday at 2 o'clock 
P. M. I did so. He was not in, the housekeeper said. 
I asked her when he would be in. She said at 6 o'clock 
that evening. I called at the house, and waited until 
nearly 8 o'clock, and still he did not come. She told me 
it was useless to wait longer, that he would hardly come 
home that night. "When will he be home, do you 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 75 

think?" said I. "Come to-morrow about 4 o'clock P. 
M. He will be in for sure at that time." I came at the 
appointed time, rang the bell. The young lady answered 
the bell, and said: "Not at home." This is singular," 
said I. "I don't know what to do about our business. 
He requested me to be sure and come to his house about 
the matter. As I was thus talking to the young lady I 
heard a noise overhead, above the door, and looking up 
instantly, I saw the priest draw his head through the up- 
Kfted window. I suppose he was listening all the time," 
There are several such instances of priests' deception. 
Other ministers I find are more sincere. If they don't 
want your goods they will tell you so frankly." Indeed, 
the experience of this honest man is too general. 

A devotion, called the "Forty Hours Devotion," is 
observed at least once a year in all Roman Catholic 
churches. It is supposed to be a time of revival and 
piety with priests and people. The latter on these 
occasions have recourse to confession, masses, late and 
early visits to the church to gain this and that indul- 
gence. But instead of being a time of devotion, at least, 
for the priests, it is a time of debauch, vulgarity and 
intoxication. In fact, the priest, at whose church the 
devotions are to be held, whether a temperate man or 
not, must have in stock wine, beer whisky and cigars to 
suit the taste and requirements of the customer. If he 
should fail to have these luxuries on hand the visiting 
priests, who are invited to come to assist in hearing con- 
fessions and other sacraments, would never be deceived 
more than once. Priests will not help one another except 
on this condition, that they have plenty of stimulants to 
inf Qse spirit and courage into the body during the long 
hours they have to sit in the confessional closet. One 
priest told me his bill for whisky alone amounted on the 
average to $450 a year. "The German priests," said he, 
"had to have beer, and the French, wine, while nearly all 
Irish priests were strong on whisky." 

"Eight priests," said he, "for three days at my 



76 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

house, means one dozen and a half of quart bottles of 
good old Rye." At least 80 per cent, of the Roman 
Catholic clergy are intemperate men. Twenty per cent, 
perhaps are good, sober, honest men; and they are so in 
spite of their church and the evil associations of their 
brethern in the ministry. 

One of the greatest evils to which the clergy of the 
the Romish church are slaves, is treated in this 
chapter. To briefly sum up let it be said the lazy 
bachelor-hall kind of life a priest leads predisposes to 
uncleanliness, ungodliness, indifierence, materialism and 
sin in its grossest forms. He thinks it no breach of 
Christian conduct to enter a saloon, imbibe at a public 
bar, walk the streets and smoke a cigar, run fast horses 
and swear like a trooper. He lives and dies a miser, 
always grasping for more wealth, so as to be secure from 
poverty in case the bishop turn him out of house and 
home on account of physical or moral incompetence. I 
have heard more than one priest say: "Well, I will pull 
out from the church when I have ten thousand dollars 
salted down." Such language and such actions prove 
that priests have not much faith in the church which 
they profess outwardly as infallible. His thoughts for 
the most part are low, sensual and material. His lan- 
guage is necessarily in keeping; and his daily life impure, 
unholy and anything but spiritual. 



Fifteefi Years Behind the Curtains. 77 

CHAPTER yill. 

Priests and Females. 

Roman Catholics look upon the priest as Spanish 
christians look upon Jesus Christ. They consider him a 
supernatural being, too angelic to be a man, and too 
holy to hold conversation with women. The false 
doctrine of celibacy is exaggerated and makes the priest 
a godly creature; while woman,* married or unmarried, 
is put on record as an unholy imperfection of the human 
race, afflicted and cursed of God since the day that 
Mother Eve took of the forbidden fruit. Owing to this 
strange, heathen doctrine it is not to be wondered at 
that women in Catholic countries are the hopeless, menial 
slaves that they are. 

Though the priest believes, or pretends to believe, 
that his state is holier than that of the married one, and 
that women are weak, unholy creatures, yet it is sur- 
prising how he prefers to spend vacant hours in the 
society of married and single young women. He gravi- 
tates towards them in the confessional, in the private 
home, in expressing pleasant thoughts awakened in hear- 
ing confessions. He prefers to while away the time in 
the kitchen in a social discussion of events with Sallie, 
to spiritual reading, or theological meditation in his 
study. While there is no mutual elevation of thought 
or mind in the low, sensual, vulgar talk, Sallie considers 
herself highly honored by these flying clandestine visits, 
and always has the string on the latch outside. 

The conversation often begins thus: "Draw the 
blinds; let us have a game of euchre; you deal; leave in 
the joker. Let me have a smile first." "Hot or 
cold, your reverence?" "Hot, with a little sugar." 
From my experience in visiting priests' houses for the 
fifteen years that I was behind the scenes, and from my 
attendance at their "Forty Hours' Devotion," I am pre- 
pared to state that I never before, nor since, witnessed 



78 !< if teen Years Behind the Curtains » 

such vulgarity, coarse manners, devilish hypocrisy, gi*oss 
sensuality and beastly inxtoxication as I have beheld 
those long and dismal years. I must here confess that I 
dreaded as much as death itself the approach of the date 
for the "Forty Hours' Devotion" at my church. The 
four or five assisting priests, whom I was then obliged 
to have, came "supplied with stock," both in the inner 
man and in the accompanying satchels. Out of ten 
priests' satchels opened, you may, with an absolute 
certainty, reckon on nine»of them being filled pretty well 
with cigars, pipes, tobacco and bottles. But one thing 
has always been to me a question, and that is, to w^hich 
the priest's true afiection inclines most — to Sallie or to 
the bottle. 

To repeat the actual conversation with females 
would not be up to the publication level of this book, 
nor the moral taste of our literary readers. But it may 
be here said that often the words and acts of his rever- 
ence — the priest — with the opposite sex prove fatal to 
their moral life. Like the choking vines that coil 
around the stately tree — the beauty of the forest — and 
cause its decay and dissolution, the poisonous insinua- 
tions from one in whom is reposed entire confidence 
brings moral blight to the pliable heart, and, finally, 
ultimate ruin. 

"Evil communications corrupt good morals," 
whether they proceed from the clergy or the laity. 
From the adjoining room in the parochial residence are 
heard the preliminary remarks: "Sallie, I am but a 
man. Don't you know that men are the most uncharita- 
ble creatures in God's world. They come to me hun- 
dreds of times confessing the same sins over and over 
again and expect pardon from me. I give them absolu- 
tion because they promise to do better. But let us 
suppose, Sallie, that I do something wrong, just one 
time, and go to ask pardon of them, would they grant it, 
do you think? Not much. They would condemn me to 
the lowest pits. You know, Sallie, how well worth a 



I'ifteeii Years Behind the Curtains. 79 

watching the people are. If they had anything against 
you they would soon cast it up to you. If they had 
anything against me they would not spare me. Those 
four men I put out of their pews last Sunday for not 
paying their pew rent, do you mean to say they would 
stand by me?" "No, indeed, they would not," says 
Sallie, with apparent delight in the confidence her father 
confessor reposes in her. 

The first "Forty Hours' Devotions" I was ever in- 
vited to was at the church of a priest, generally denomi- 
nated "a temperance man" among Romanists; and he 
was, for he would neither smoke nor drink in public, 
though he did both in private. After arriving at his 
house the housekeeper waited on me in the dining room, 
and first presented a bottle, labeled: "Old rye, nine 
years old, Murphy & Co., New York." "Thank you," 
said I, 'T never drink but while on the altar." Being 
then one of the youngest priests in the diocese, and but 
a few months ordained, I was astonished to be offered 
intoxicating drink at the home of one considered a tem- 
perance leader in the church. "Does Father im- 
bibe?" said I to Kate. "Oh, bless your soul, Father, he 
never puts it to his lips outside his own house ; Catholics 
here are curious, they are so talkative. You can't walk 
up the street but they have something to say about one." 
I was offered no more by Kate, nor were the other 
priests; but when assigned to our rooms, each and every 
one found a quart bottle with a similar label, and under 
the pillow, on retiring, I found about a pint bottle, 
marked: "Pure brandy." I began to think that tem- 
perance and intemperance were not rigorously separated 
in Rome. 

If ever any daughter loved her parents Kate loved 

her spiritual parent, the Rev. Father , with more 

affection. He was, according to her, the only "good 
priest" in that diocese. By her subsequent acts she 
proved the sincerity of her expressions; for he became 
ill and suddenly died, and she followed him by taking 



80 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

her own life. When he was dying she stood by his bed- 
side, raised his head in her hands, ministered to his 
needs in life and in death. And now that he was gone, 
she said to her friends: "I have nothing to live for in 

this world since Father died, I will soon be with 

him." She left the house quietly that evening and 
drowned herself in a nearby pond. 

It is, therefore, untrue to say that priests do not love 
females, and that the affection is not returned, as several 
other similar occurrences would testify. 

Priests' actions belie their words; for while they 
preach celibacy they fail to observe purity, and seem to 
consider '^living together" without being married to be 
more meritorious than living together in the married 
state. However, let it be remembered that priests are 
but men and are tempted to evil like other men, and 
under the circumstances other men would just be as bad 
and wicked as priests if placed in a similar environment. 
Just think what the moral life of any ordinary man 
would be if he were compelled to lead a life against the 
grain, against nature, against his own feelings and dic- 
tates of reason. You may say, perhaps, that celibacy 
is voluntary on the part of the priest, for did he not 
freely and deliberately promise on the day of ordination 
to observe the law of celibacy? Yes; but as stated be- 
fore, more than nine-tenths of the priests don't know 
the nature of that promise at the early age at which it is 
extorted of them by the bishops. They have then no 
true conception of the unlawful and unnatural obligation 
imposed on them by ecclesiastical superiors, and all 
through after life in the priesthood they lead a path of 
sin, violating what is worse than the law of celibacy, the 
law of holy purity and chastity. I do not blame the 
priests so much for the transgressions of chastity as I do 
the system which binds them by an oath to live under 
that pagan custom. Let any man, young in years, ro- 
bust in body, mingle with the society of Roman Catholic 
clergy. Let him take their vows, lead an unmarried life. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 81 

live like a hermit, a large portion of the time domiciled 
with a lady equally as young and vigorous. Let him 
Ijave intoxicating liquor under the same roof. Let him 
have an appetite for the same, cherished and indulged 
in from the compulsory use of fermented and intoxicating 
vrines on the altar, not only weekly, but daily, what, 
pray, will be the result of such a life? AYill it be moral? 
Can it be pure? Can priests, weak, sinful vessels, walk 
with security where saints and angels fear to tread? 
No! certainly not. It is but human for them to sin in 
this way, and continue in sin, confessing week by week, 
and month by month their moral violations to other con- 
fessors as guilty as themselves. 

The priest is not only an idolator on the altar, but 
in his private home, for he bends the knee to a female 
idol and worships her with his heart and soul. He ful- 
fills the lusts of the flesh, because he is still the carnial 
man, and walks not in the spirit of God. He bends the 
knee to the gods of fornication, adultery, intemperance, 
gluttony, indolence, wordly lucre and covetousness. 
According to the nature of the system he cannot do 
otherwise. "The carnal man is enmity against God.'' 
He cannot comply with the injunction of the blessed 
Apostle: "Mortify, therefore, your members which are 
upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, inordinate 
affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is 
idolatry."— (Col. 3:5.) 

Let no one say the priests don't sin in this respect 
because they are holy. Let th(5 card table speak and it 
wdll tell you of an intemperate celibate at one side, and 
a weak, confiding young woman at the other. It will 
tell you of how thoughts give rise to words, and the lat- 
ter to actions, and these to the scandal of many good 
people and the ruin of many souls. Oh! how many such 
scandals have thus sprung up? Oh! how many more 
have been suppressed and never leave the priests' house? 
On the last great day when all shall appear before the 
Omnipotent Judge of heaven and earth oh, what a 



82 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

reckoning! How many secret crimes will then be laid 
bare to the public gaze? Pious souls will then see that 
many of those in whom tliey confided for salvation and 
pardon of sins during life are condemed and lost. They 
will then see from the testimony, visible to all, that not 
a small proportion of their reverend fathers have been, 
instead of moralists, rapists; instead of saints, adulterers; 
instead of saviours of souls and bodies, murderers of 
both. They will see that his touch of hand on the head 
or pulse of the woman was not to bless, but to blight 
and destroy. Not far from my place of duty in the 
Roman church was a priest who visited a female penitent 
often. The father and mother were as often rejoiced to 
see their dignified looking pastor visit their humble 
home and take so lively an interest in their darling 
daughter. But, alas! it was but a few months after 
that it developed that a certain department of that home 
was made the scene of some of the most brutal assaults 
on female virtue that ever have been known. The 
young woman at first resisted, until overcome with 
deadly drugs, after which for many months the poor girl 
had been made the helpless victim of cruel force and 
savage barbarity. When his victim threatened to expose 
him if he did not desist he intimidated her with the 
threat of instant death in this world, and damnation in 
the next, if she ever opened her mouth to her parents or 
any living mortal. Perhaps, you will ask, was this 
ruffian lynched by his people or the victim's parents? 
No; he was reported to the bishop, and his lordship 
punished (?) him by removing him away a couple of 
hundred miles to the other end of the diocese, where he 
would be least known. He got as good a charge and as 
large a salary as he had in his former parish. Oh, no, 
bishops punish not priests for immorality. Rome, the 
mother of harlots, knows not what morality among her 
clergy is. Who ever heard of a priest being punished 
by his church for an unholy life? Who ever heard of 
him being excommunicated for his immoral conduct 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. • 83 

mth the opposite sex? None. In all my experience, 
not only in the United States but in European Roman 
Catholic countries, I have yet to learn of a single 
instance. 

When shall we open our eyes to the moral effects 
of these sacerdotal microbes on the moral and physical 
lives of our people? When will broken-hearted mothers 
begin to lose confidence in the confessors of their 
daughters? When T\dll they arise to their duties, as 
mothers, to prohibit their daughters, whom God has 
entrusted them, from even conversing with the contami- 
nating celibates of the Roman Catholic church? Oh, 
may the Holy Spirit break the barriers, quicken and 
enlighten the hearts and minds of both confessors and 
penitents and cause them to walk in the Spirit; and then 
an end is sure to come to this unholy and barbarous sort 
of living. Let both priests and people look to Jesus, 
instead of to the church, for spiritual life and guidance. 
Christ is '^the way, the truth and the life." He will 
show those who obey his word the way to lead a 
righteous life. He will teach those who trust him all 
truth, for he will dwell in the soul of the believer, in- 
struct mth his word, and guide them by His Spirit. 
"Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of 
the flesh."— (Gal. 5:16.) 



84 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

CHAPTER IX. 
Monks and Nuns. 

In this chapter we will show how monks and nuns 
originated, their manner of living, and their influence on 
religion and society. No more than Rome itself were 
monasteries and nunneries built in a day. Their growth, 
though unnatural was nevertheless gradual. At the very 
dawn of Romanism nonasticism began to develop. 
Several peculiar beliefs hastened its development. 

In the fourth century as Romanism began to grow 
on the ignorance and superstition of its followers, there 
were those who asserted and taught, that to be pure and 
holy, people must forsake all temporal things on the 
ground that all matter in se was evil. Hence to forsake 
the material world as much as possible, to take leave of 
houses, friends and possessions, and retreat to a cave and 
live as a secluded monk was considered by many as the 
only sure way to be happy in this life, and gain ever- 
lasting happiness in the next. 

In this nineteenth century of civilization, culture 
and refinement, when people ought to know better, 
multitudes of men and women, called monks and nuns, 
live up to that peculiar doctrine that matter is full of 
evil, and retire into a secluded life. They desire to with- 
draw themselves as much as possible, not only from the 
outside world, but from their own bodies and their mem- 
bers. Instead of going to deal with the principal part of 
man, the rational, the soul, they go to the inferior part, 
the body and punish it for the sins the soul commits. 
Their principle is to kill sin by killing the body. Their 
principle works on that of Mr. Muldoon Avho got drunk 
to cure headache. Thus, said he: "I drank a pint of 
whiskey to send away my headache." "What," said his 
friend, "Won't that give you a worse headache?" "Mo," 
said Mr. M., "You never saw a man with two headaches 
at the same time. You see the whiskey headache will 



Fifieeti Years Behind the Curtains. 85 

drive away the first headache, and the second one will go 
away of its own accord after a good night's sleep." The 
monks whip their bodies with iron rods and leather 
straps to drive away impure thoughts from the mind, and 
let the body recuperate itself from meat and drink and a 
few nishts' good sleep. 

Monks go into solitude like selfish beasts of prey 
^ith the idea of saving their own useless bodies and in- 
active souls. Seclusion naturally begets sensuality, sel- 
fishness, laziness, filth, ignorance, superstition, fanaticism 
and bigotry. It is not difficult for any one to fathom 
what sort of a life the monk leads in his dirty cell. I 
have seen them both in the east and in the far west, and 
I have seen many of their room-mates ad nwiisecmi^ fleas, 
lice and bugs. When a monk prides himself in telling 
one that he did not chancre his o^arb for twelve months — 
that his clothes by day served him by night — that he has 
no bed other than the clay floor with a stone for his dII- 
low, it does not require a gigantic mind to tell what 
sort of social and religious life he leads. 

What is here said of monks applies equally as well 
to nuns, who are really monks only they happen to be 
nuns. Their origin is similar to their male brethern. 

As soon as a monastery was established in a city or 
town, it was not complete if a nunnery was not erected 
on the opposite corner to keep them in company. 

Besides this idea of material things being evil, and 
the necessity of withdrawing from them as much as possi- 
ble, another cause induced, and does yet persuade many 
to enter monasteries and nunneries for life, and that is 
the perpetration of enormous crimes. Some of the 
greatest criminals to-day undetected are in monasteries 
''doing penance" for the balance of their life, which pen- 
ance they think will wipe away their crimes, and recon- 
cile them with God. 

The mode of living in the monastery and the con- 
vent, is detrimental to the inmates, to religion and to 
society at large. In these institutions, like beehives, they 



86 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

have their queens, workers and drones. The workers are 
on the go from, morning to night, and even during a part 
of the night. 

Some of the monks make tins, spoons, pans and 
various household articles; others make pants, shoes, 
coats and stockings. There is not much difficulty in 
making the garments, for they follow no worldly pat- 
tern, style or method. Their object is to carry on a home 
industry, so as not to be obhged to mingle at all with the 
outside world. What manufactures are over and above 
that needed for home consumption, they ship to the mar- 
kets by the ''lay brothers," and frequently undermine 
the foundation of all legitimate business by disposing of 
their goods, at half price. Some make mats, brushes, 
brooms, liquors and beer. Who has not heard of the St. 
Vincent's beer, right here in our own State? The monk& 
of St. Vincent's have a wide reputation for being the 
best brewers in the United States, if not the best con- 
sumers. A keg of the holy Saint's beer sells at sight. 
The drones are characterized by indolence and filth. The 
queens are the old presiding abbots and abbesses. The 
entire inmates of the cloister swarm around them like 
unconscious insects. 

The nuns also sustain their home industries, sewing, 
washing, baking, teaching when able to do so. Some of 
the monks are mendicants, and make a profession of 
begging from house to house, especially in Catholic sec- 
tions. The nuns too follow suit. TJaey go around as 
regular as the clock in our towns and cities, begging 
clothes, food, money and general alms. 

They approach Protestants and Catholics alike; and 
what is singular in these United States about this 
mendicancy, is that Avhile the Roman Catholic inmates 
for whom the sisters beg, are not permitted to beg on our 
streets, the nuns are allowed to do it for them. An old 
dissipated wretch who seeks refuge with the nuns after a 
life of sin, would be arrested if he attempted to ask for 
help in public, while the nuns do it for him unmolested. 



Fiftee7i Years Behind the Curtains, 8 7 

These sisters never make a return, or give us a report of 
their funds collected. They present us with no balance 
sheet after the expenditures and receipts are added up. 
If those who gave their money freely were to approach 
the convent to investigate and inquire for a statement, 
they w^ould be ordered out as unholy invaders. 

But are nuns and monks any better than ordinary 
people? Are convents abodes of virtue and holiness? Let 
us see. What brought about the reformation? Monks 
and nuns by their scandalous and corrupt lives, hastened 
it more than any other cause. What is piety in convents 
and monasteries? It is an empty term. Piety and holi- 
ness is measured by the number of beads counted, pen- 
ances performed, confessions made to the priest. It is 
gauged by the number of lashes given on the nude back 
to prevent it from obeying the will and mind. Holiness 
is counted in the monastery by the length of time the 
monk can wear the hair shirt without changing; the 
length of time he can endure on his bare knees before a 
wooden crucifix, and the size of a stone he can use for a 
pillow. 

They take three vows, namely chastity, that is 
celibacy, obedience to the church, and poverty. That is, 
they must on entering give up to the treasury of the in- 
stitution their wealth and their all, and whatever be- 
quests that they in after life might receive. But all this, 
and more, fails to render the inmates holy. 

In the twelfth century the bishop of Lincoln, de- 
nounced monks as "the heaviest curse of the church, and 
the greatest obstacle to Christian truth." 

Wycliffe declared them to be "the pests of society, 
the enemies of religion, and the promoters of every, 
crime." Matthew Paris in the twelfth century said: 
"Our Lord, the pope, made the Dominican and Francis- 
can monks not fishers of men, but of money." He said 
mendicant monks were the genuine successors of the 
Pharisees, Both the Dominican and the Franciscan 
monks were principally instrumental in founding the in- 



88 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtaifis. 

quisition and torturing multitudes to a slow and terrible 
death. The barbarous methods of burning and strang- 
ling heretics were conceived, planned and promulgated 
from the frenzy cells of monks. 

Dr. Achilli, who was a prior of the Dominican order 
of monks, says: "Few among them are respectable in 
character, the major part of them being lazy vagabonds, 
who to avoid every species of exertion, either physical or 
mental, and to pass their whole lives in sloth and ignor- 
ance, adopt the frock and cowl, which at once authorizes 
them to receive food, clothes and lodging without trouble 
or labor on their part, although they constitute the worst 
part of society, and only serve to demoralize it by their 
bad example." 

Listen to testimony about some of the convents. 
The following is from an English church organ of Sep- 
tember 3, 1891, on thetradgey in a convent at Lisbon: 

Murder in the convent of the Trinitarians at Lisbon, 
^'The victim was a sweet playful girl of fifteen years, 
named Sarah Pereizo Pinto de Mattos. She and her 
sister Clelia, aged eleven, were orphans. When dying 
their mother appointed a gentleman named Pertano to 
be their guardian. He installed them in the convent of 
the Trinitarians to be educated. The last time he visited 
them, he noticed something unusual and sad in Sarah's 
manner, but as two of the sisters were present, he ab- 
stained from asking the cause. On the morning of July 
23, he received a brief note from the Superior of the 
community, advising him of the death of Sarah, saying 
she had died at six that morning. He hastened to the 
convent and asked to see the body. They wanted to 
prevent his enterance, but he insisted on it so persistently 
that finally he was taken to the bed on which lay the 
corpse of Sarah, dressed in white. Several of the sisters 
were around the bed. The guardian at once inquired as 
to the cause of the sudden decease. They answered that 
it was caused by a syncope. 'A syncope!' he exclaimed 
at the age of fifteen, and when only three or four days 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 89 

have passed since she was well and strong." A terrible 
suspicion entered his mind, so he directed the man who 
had charge of the funeral to go to the commissary of 
police of that district and make known to him the suspi- 
cious nature of the death. When this grave accusation 
was made to the judge, he gave orders that there should 
be a post mortem examination. Some experienced medi- 
cal men examined the body, and noticing signs of poison- 
ing, the viscera were guarded that they might be chemi- 
cally analyzed. Continuing their investigations, the doc- 
tors were astonished to find that Sarah had been violated, 
that internally there were indehble vestiges of the horri- 
ble monstrosity of which she was the victim. Clelia says 
that her sister Sarah was very ill for two or three days be- 
fore she died; that she complained of pains in her head, 
and in her chest, and that she had some greenish spots 
on her face. She also said that a little time before the 
death of Sarah, the nun, named CoUecta administered to 
her a drink in a cup, saying thatit was a purgative. 
Shortly after drinking it Sarah commenced vomiting 
blood which stained the sheets and then she died." 

"It is said that in this convent many have died of 
phthisis. It is remembered that two years ago a girl 
aged sixteen, left the convent, having been violated there, 
but in such cases shame causes both the parents and the 
victims to maintain silence. The nun Collecta has been 
** arrested on a charge of manslaughter as the presumed 
author of the poisoning of Sarah. Two priests are be- 
lieved to be impUcated in this sad case, and are being 
sought for by the police, and it is expected they will be 
lodged in prison to-night." 

To read these and similar tradgedies is enough to 
make the blood curdle in the veins, yet we have similar 
institutions in our own land, where judges, police and 
inspectors are prevented from entering. 



90 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

CHAPTER X. 

Monks and Nuns. 
(Continued.) 

In the last chapter we have seen the origin of monks 
and nuns, their life within convent walls. Let us here 
consider briefly their moral and religious influence. 

We have here what is called the ''Little Sisters of 
the Poor," begging fi^m house to house to further 
Rome's interests. They ought to be arrested as other 
beggars are on the streets. The influence in itself is im- 
moral. It encourages indolence and ingenders pauper- 
ism. Rome has always blessed those who begged for 
her, and points to the fact of her prayers being heard, 
in that so many beggars are successfully maintained in 
Romish countries. In countries ruled by her priests, 
liquor and beggars swarm like grasshoppers, blighting 
everything before them. Many people have been known 
to have such a repugnance to honest labor as to take up 
their staff and bag, and join the great procession of 
beggars. 

It is radically wrong to extort from young ladies, 
fifteen and sixteen years of age, solemn vows, a few 
years after entering. But the Romish law says these 
young ladies have no one to blame; they entered with 
their own free will. Yes, that is true. But suppose a 
few years' residence therein convince them that their 
inexperience caused them to make a mistake, that they 
have no vocation for the cloister, and that to them it is a 
veritable hell upon eaith, ought they not have the natural 
right to liberty, liberty to leave, if they desire so? They 
ought, besides, to have legal rights as American citizens 
to appeal to our courts for help and advice, but this is 
denied them. The pope's court is the only one recog- 
nized within the convent. Priests, monks and bishops 
may enter there, but no magistrates, police or civil 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 91 

officers can pass the threshold without special permis- 
sion, which is hardly ever granted. 

Why should a young lady, sick in a convent, not 
have permission to see her dear parents when desired? 
This privilege has been rigorously denied her. The 
pope through his monastic agents, therefore, holds undis- 
puted possession of these institutions and their inmates. 
Civil officers cannot establish an investigation, as to how 
many inmates went crazy for the last year in any of our 
convents; how many have been outrageously treated by 
nuns and priests; how many have been buried, and 
where are the remains interred? These are questions 
that concern the best interests of every citizen of this 
country, and yet we have no more access to their solu- 
tion than the man in the moon. Why should not every 
father and mother know the real cause of the illness of a 
beloved daughter in these dark and dismal abodes? Why 
should they not be able to learn of the number of in- 
fants buried from a convent; where they came from; in 
what condition, and the length of time they remained in 
the convent? 

It is certainly unlawful to retain in these institu- 
tions young or old nuns who go insane. They ought to 
be sent to the proper State institutions, where necessary 
attention and medicine could be given them. But they 
are concealed from the State and kept in the convent 
until they decay away in skeletons. The same may be 
said of monks and of several priests who have some 
funds. The nuns often take in the insane priest to get 
possession of his money, before relations find him out. 

A bishop not a hundred miles from Pittsburg sent 
one of his insane priests to a convent, where he would 
be supported on the sisters' revenue, begged from the 
community in which they lived. This priest acted like a 
night bird, or beast of prey; he roamed the corridors and 
rooms of the building, appropriating whatever articles 
he could find. He walked as an animal on hands and 
feet, and as occasion one day brought me to visit the in- 



92 Jf'ifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

stitution, I met the mysterious biped crawling along on 
the four extremities. My heart burned within me to see 
how the poor fellow was neglected by bishop, priests and 
nuns. I went to the bishop's house and said: ''Bishop, 
can't there be done something for that poor priest. 

Father ? He is out of his mind, and he ought to 

be sent to a proper hospital, where he could have med- 
ical attention." The bishop replied: "He has left us 
only $1,600, and the ^lost of that is spent boarding him, 
and were it not for the people and Catholics here, who 
would talk about it, I would send him to the county poor 
house." It is needless to say this taught me that there 
was not much charity in the hierarchy and its church, for 
which he toiled, and after taking his money they turned 
him out to grass like a saperannuated street car horse, 
to die unknown and forgotten. 

To take vows against God's institutions cannot be 
right ;l)ut marriage is one of God's noblest institutions, 
and against it monks and nuns are sworn. Why should 
anyone be compelled to swear against God's plan and 
His moral law? Monks and nuns, if the holy people 
they pretend to be, ought to live out in the active world 
to be its light and the salt of the earth. They ought to 
be placed on a candlestick and not under a bushel. They 
talk about their good works and loyalty to the Constitu- 
tion. But if all people selected the celibate's life, as the 
better part and holier one, in a short time we would have 
no people on earth to be loyal or disloyal to a Constitu- 
tion. Universal celibacy would unavoidably exterminate 
the human race. If the monk and the nun are the 
spiritual beings and peculiar saints they claim to be, 
surely Christ or his Apostles would have advocated 
monasticism. Christ himslf would probably have set 
the example and led the life of the monk. He did not 
so. He retreated not from life's battles, to hide in caves 
or cells, but Hved in the world, and preached in season 
and out of season to the people. He did not live on the 
alms of the people, teach mendicancy or encourage lazi- 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 93 

ness. On the contrary, He told his followers if they 
were to be his disciples that they must deny themselves, 
take up the cross and follow him. 

We will quote a fcAV more passages to show the 
moral influence and the sanctity of these institutions. 
Miss Barbara Ubryk, of the Carmelite bare-footed nuns, 
was forcibly kept in close confinement in a dark cell for 
a number of years. The judge of the criminal court of 
Cracow ordered an investigation. Here is the result: 
*'The cell, which was situated at the extreme end of the 
corridor between the pantry, close to the dung-hole and 
a walled-up window, had a double wooden door in which, 
there was a moveable grating, through which, very prob- 
ably, food was handed in. Through a very small open 
window niche some rays of light could now and then 
penetrate into this dismal dungeon. The cell, seven 
paces long by six paces wide, was opened; but it is 
almost impossible to describe the view this piece of in- 
quisition of the nineteenth century presented. In a 
dark, infected hole adjoining the sewer sat, or rather, 
cow^ered, on a heap of straw, an entirely naked, totally 
neglected, half -insane woman, who, at the unaccustomed 
sight of Kght, the outer world, and human beings, folded 
her hands and pitifully implored: 'I am hungry, have 
pity on me; give me meat and I shall be obedient.' . . . 

"This hole, for it could hardly be called a chamber, 
besides containing all kinds of dirt and filth and a dish 
with rotten potatoes, was deficient of the slightest decent 
accommodation. There was nothing — no stove, no bed, 
no table, no chair; it was neither warmed by a fire nor 
by the rays of the sun. This den the inhuman sisters 
who call themselves women, spiritual, wives, the brides 
of heaven, had selected as a habitation for one of their 
own sex and kept her therein in close confinement for 
twenty-one years since 1848. For twenty-one years the 
grey sisters daily passed this cell, and not one of them 
ever thought of taking compassion on this poor outcast 
prisoner. Half human being, half animal, with a filthy 



94 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

body, with thin knock-kneed legs, hollow cheeks, closely- 
shorn dirty head, unwashed for years, came a horrible- 
looking being forward, such as Dante in his wildest im- 
agnation was unable to picture. With her deeply-sunk 
eyes staring on one spot, knelt this wretched victim in 
her cell, in the convent of the Carmelites." 

Such is the healthy moral and physical life among 
the nuns of the Carmelites. But it is not a whit worse 
than it is among the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Sisters of 
Mercy, of Benedict, or any other convent of nuns we 
know of. They are all about the same, and flow in sim- 
ilar ruts of sin and death. Let Roman Catholic young 
women beware of the danger of the step they take go- 
ing to convents. Let them study impartial history of 
these dens of infamy, and I am sure every sensible 
young lady will remain working for Christ where He de- 
sires, and that is in the world: "Son, go to work to-day 
in my vineyard." (Mat. 21:28.) 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 95 

CHAPTER XI. 
Dark Crimes the Result of the Confessional. 

A plain statement of a few facts that have occurred 
within the memory of all will throw some light on the 
moral (?) tendency of auricular confession. 

The following is certified to by a Miss K., of New 
York, who confessed her sins for years to a priest of the 
Church of the Visitation, Brooklyn: "I was born in 
Brooklyn. My father, Bernard K., who was a black- 
smith, died when I was only four years old, leaving my 
mother almost penniless, with three children to support, 
an older brother and sister and myself. My mother now 
lives outside Brooklyn. My brother Joseph is a waiter 
in New York, and my sister is the wife of a police- 
man, Joseph K., of Brooklyn. After my father died 
his brother, Michael K., who was for many years at 
the head of the Christian Brothers in Albany, got a place 
for me in a school of the Sisters of Charity in that city, 
and I remained there until I was sixteen years old. I 
then came back to my mother's home in Brooklyn." 
"When did you first meet Father L?" was asked. 
"Soon after my return to Brooklyn. I wished one Sun- 
day to go to confession, and my mother sent me to 
St. Paul's church. Father L. was assistant priest 
there, and received my confession. After the services 
he took me through the church, and then took me to his 
house, where he gave me a prayer book and some 
medals. I thought him very kind and obliging. After 
that I went to confession to him almost every week for 
several years. During a part of that time I lived with my 
mother; but in 1881 I went to live out. After a time 
Father L. was transferred to St. Joseph's church, 
and I went to confession to him there. One Sunday 
after services he told me to go to his house, as he wanted 
to see me on important business. Something in his 
manner made me afraid, and I did not go. After that 



^ 



96 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

he sent me two letters inviting me to call. I did not 
answer them; and he finally sent a letter to the house 
where I was working. Then I went to see him. He 
was alone when I called. He pulled me down on his 
lap, kissed me, told me he loved me and took improper 
liberties with me. I tried to get away from him. He 
laughed, and said that there were plenty of women who 
would be glad and proud to be loved by a priest. Then 
he tried to carry me up stairs, but I fought so hard that 
finally he gave up the attempt, and told me that I could 
go home. As I was leaving he told me to be sure and 
come back the next week; but I was afraid of him, and 
staid away for three months." "What made you go back 
at all?" was asked. "I was anxious to enter a convent, 
and he often told me that when I was old enough he 
would secure me admission to one. I called to see him 
about it. He told me to call again the next week; and 
as he did not attempt to insult me, I called often after 
that. He used to tell me he was my guardian, and 
would see to it that my wishes were gratified. He was 
sent to St. Anthony's church about that time, and one 
afternoon I went there to see him. He said he was very 
busy and that 1 should call at 8 o'clock that evening. 
When I went back at the hour named Father L. 
was alone in the house. The shutters were closed and 
the" blinds were down. I asked him to arrange a slight 
quarrel I had with my brother. He said he would do 
so. I then asked him when he was going to get me in 
the convent. He said he did not think the life of a nun 
was my vocation. I reminded him of the frequent prom- 
ises he had made me, but this only seemed to anger him. 
Then he locked the door, and commanded that I should 
take an oath that I would not enter a convent. This I 
refused to do. He seemed greatly excited, and I was 
terribly frightened. Finally he threw me on a lounge 
and accomplished my ruin. Afterwards he told me if I 
reported what he had done that I would drop dead. 'You 
cannot get into a convent now,' he said. I was crying 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 97 

bitterly, and he tried to quiet me. He said that he loved 
me dearly, and would always care for me; and asked me 
if I did not want to go and live with him when he had 
his own house. 1 told him I did not. I could never 
trust myself with him again. When I was leaving he 
told me to come and see him next day; but I did not 
visit him again for three months. I should not have gone 
then had I not found that I was soon to become a 
mother. I told him of my condition, and that I was 
friendless, helpless and alone. I appealed to him to aid 
me. I asked him to give me some money to go to 
Canada and remain with friends. 

"Father L. said he could not think of the plan I 
proposed, but he had a friend, a doctor, who would 
relieve me of my trouble. He told me to find some quiet 
boarding house and he would send the doctor to see me. 
After a great deal of urging I agreed I found a board- 
ing house, and he sent Dr. to see me. Father 

L. told him I was a protege of his, and that he was 
anxious I should be saved from disgrace. The doctor 
often told me that if I would inform him who had 
wronged me he would hunt him up and compel him to 
marry me. 

"Several times they thought I Avas dying. One day 
I had a sinking spell, and the landlady, who had discov- 
ered the cause of my sickness, wanted to call an ambu- 
lance and have me sent to the hospital. Dr. — 

came in and persuaded her not to do so. I was sick for 
many months. I had never been sick before, and have 
never been well since. My brother came to see me 
while I was sick. He thought my sickness was stonuich 
trouble, and paid my board and doctor's bills. Father L. 
never gave me but five dollars. I went to see him as soon 
as I was able. He asked me why I was not at work yet, 
and said he could \o nothing for me. I have never since 
been able to support myself, and my brother cared for 
me until he was married a couple of years ago. Father 
L. went to St. Stephen's church in New York some time 



98 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

in 1887. I went there to see him, and persuade him to 
do something for me. I took a knife, resolved to defend 
myself, if necessary. He took me to his house, where he 
kissed me, and asked me to kiss him. He said he still 
loved me, and wanted to know if I did not love him. I 
told him I could not, for he was a priest. When I arose 
to go he again pulled me down on his lap. He said that 
he would send me some money, but he did not do so; 
and I have never seen him since. As I am not able to 
work, and he has ruined my life, I want him to repair 
the great wrong he has done me." 

This Rev. Father L. is still living, and is pastor of 
one of the most popular Catholic churches of the diocese. 
He is a nephew of the bishop of the same diocese, and 
has many friends in the church. He is generally what is 
called a "handsome man;" and of nice, smooth conversa-. 
tion, as sleek as a seal and conspicuously fond of wine, 
whisky and Havana cigars. He is only one of thousands 
of others who go around, as wolves in sheep's clothing, 
seeking whom they can ruin by means of knowledge derived 
from the confessional. When a sensual, intemperate brute 
learns from the private confession of his female penitent 
where she lives, her natural proclivities, her business, 
associations and general circumstances, he makes it his 
all-absorbing study as to how to capture his unsuspect- 
ing victim and accomplish the fulfilment of his desire. 
At executing this he is an adept, and hardly ever fails. 

In the diocese of Erie, Pa., a husband left his wife 
on the ground of infidelity. He sued for a divorce. The 
wife, a pretty young woman, bore a good reputation in 
the town. At the trial in the county seat she had her 
pastor subpoenaed to testify to her good character. Both 
she, the priest and several witnesses put up at the lead- 
ing^hotel of the place. Everything passed ofi* nicely the 
first night. The second night the guests were annoyed 
by rapping and pushing at one of th^ rooms. It was the 
priest trying to pry open the door of his lady friend to 
whose irreproachable character he wished to swear. The 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 99 

proprietor arose and heard a voice: "Mary, open; it's 
me.'^ "No; I will not." His reverence insisted on ham- 
mering down the door, when the proprietor interfered, 
and ejected the reverend from the premises. He was 
hopelessly drunk and disorderly. 

From the confessional the pastor knows his sheep, 
and has opportunities to do evil, and enjoy means of 
•access, when sober, to private apartments of sacred 
domiciles that no other living being enjoys. 

Another instance of the immoral workings of con- 
fession to a priest was that of Miss I. A., which we will 
abbreviate ^j>r(9 bono 2>^('blico. She was going to Father 
Con. for some time, confessing to him her faults and 
sins. Father Con. took advantage of the knowledge 
obtained fi*om his penitent and assaulted her. His victim 
was but 18 3^ears old, and when on the point of death 
gave her deposition to an attorney and stenographer, as 
follows: "That's the man who did it. That is Father 
C. He made me drink drugged wine." The priest was 
arrested, and barely escaped lynching at the hands of 
Catholics and Protestants for his unnatural crime. 

Another instance of the bad influence of the confes- 
sional box on both penitent and confessor may be related 
in that of Father Flaherty, pastor of St. Patrick's church, 
Mt. Morris, N. Y., for 12 years. His penitent and mem- 
ber of his congregation, a Miss S., said to be pre- 
possessing, was at home only two months from the con- 
vent w^hen her pastor and father confessor took undue 
relations with her, and the result has been priestly 
betrayal of an innocent young Miss only 15 years of age, 
w^hile her betrayer is 38 years old. Great affliction has 
befallen Miss S. and her parents in consequence, 
and irreparable scandal has come to the church. Father 
Flaherty has been tried twice for his nefarious crime; 
first in 1893, when he was found guilty, and sentenced 
to prison for seven and a half years. But his counsel 
appealed on the ground of some legal technicalities for 
a new trial, and, in the meantime, the Rev. got out to 



100 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

enjoy his liberty on bail of eight thousand dollars. For 
the long period of three years his case has been ably 
fought and ably defended, until the close of this year 
1895, when he was convicted again, and he gained a 
point in his favor of six months, for he is sentenced for 
only seven years to Auburn penitentiary. 

When asked by the judge if he had anything to say 
why sentence should not be pronounced on him, Flaherty 
replied: ''Your Honor, 1 am not guilty; the verdict is 
contrary to the facts; I am an innocent man." Judge 
Norton, in imposing the sentence, said: "Flaherty, it is 
useless to make any remarks to a man of your ability and 
education. I now sentence you to seven years in the 
Auburn prison." 

Young Miss S. often knelt by Flaherty's side 
with implicit faith, no doubt, in the man, as a second 
Christ on earth, with power to forgive sins. She, there- 
fore, without reserve, as most Roman Catholics do, 
opened her heart and made known to him her thoughts^ 
words and actions. She confided to him every vain 
notion and idle word, little thinking that he in so short a 
time after was to be her ruin. But shq and her broken- 
hearted parents and relatives know better to-day, and 
have received a shock to their faith in the confessional 
from which they will never recover. 

Notwithstanding these scandals be numerous and 
abominable, as made known to them through the public 
press and courts of justice, still Catholic mothers will 
uphold the confessional, and auricular confession to a 
priest, and permit their confiding daughters to enter the 
blighting enclosure of the curtained and secret closet. 

If priests obeyed God's commandments, and every 
one who willed took a lawful wife to himself, instead of 
having recourse to substitutes, and feeding the mind on 
carnal and sensual pleasures, many of them would not be 
where they are to-day, a disgrace to the church that own& 
them, a reproach to the mothers who bore them, behind 
bars like caged animals and living on felon's food. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 101 

If young girls and ladies would pray for more faith 
in Jesus Christ, and have recourse to iiim mentally for 
absolution and true rest to the soul, these scandals would 
hardly be heard of. 

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the 
Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white 
as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be 
as wool." (Isa. 1:18.) 



102 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

CHAPTEK XII. 
Celibacy and Purity. 

Celibacy here means the uEmarried state. It means 
a bachelor's life among the Eoman Catholic clergy. 
Though the church of Rome confounds celibacy with 
chastity and holy purity, there is as much difference be- 
tween them as between spring water and a mud -puddle. 
Purity is purity. Chastity, or purity may be defined as 
freedom from all unlawful intercourse with the opposite 
sex, in thought, word and act. But a person may ob- 
serve the law of celibacy, and yet be an adulterer and 
fornicator. Ah! Alas, the celibate too frequently is 
both! But to violate celibacy, that is, for a priest to 
marry is a greater crime, according to Romish doctrine, 
than to commit fornication. If a priest commit the latter 
sin, he is absolved therefrom by any ordinary priest, but 
if he marries a wife it is considered an enormous crime, 
reserved to the pope for pardon. In fact, the priest who 
deliberately marries is excommunicated, while the one 
who fornicates, is retained in the church as a "good 
priest," as long as he goes regularly to confession, and 
obeys the bishop of the diocese. Even those who teach 
that is lawful for the Roman Catholic clergy to wed are 
anathematized with the pope's cause. The ninth canon 
of the Council of Trent. Session 24th says: "Whoever 
shall affirm that persons in holy orders, or regulars, who 
have made a solemn profession of chastity, may marry 
let him be anathema." 

The origin of celibacy is fi'om the Pagans. They 
had their celibate gods, their unmarried females. They 
had a queen of heaven and a refuge of sinners. The- 
Chinese have celibate gods, and an unmarried virgin, 
who had neither father, mother, sister or brothers, and 
among these virgins and gods the grossest immoralities 
prevail. In Rome, of course, celibacy according ta 
the above dogmas is enforced. It is virtually involun- 



Fifteen yea?'s Behind the Curtains, 103 

tary. It does not make it voluntary by swearing a young 
man or woman before maturity to take a vow of 
celibacy. A thing that is radically wrong should not 
be imposed on either sex under pain of excommunica- 
tion, and when he or she find that such an obligation 
is imposed on him contrary to the divine command- 
ments, he should renounce it at once with impunity. 
Constant experience of the lives of the priests, proves 
that celibacy is to the majority of them an involun- 
tary burden from which they would willingly remove, 
if they only could. AH the transgressions of unlawful 
sexual intercourse testify to the fact that the Romish 
clergy are not in their natural element. Their en- 
vironment is unnatural; hence the crimes that usually fol- 
low are outlandish. Sins against purity are committed 
under the mantle of the cassock and celibacy right in the 
presence of the people, by the sanctuary, and even on the 
altar. To illustrate a little, a bishop a few years ago 
visited a priest in his diocese to administer the sacra- 
ment of confirmation the next day. Sabbath morning. 
Saturday night is a jolly one for the Romish clergy, as 
they can freely imbibe up to midnight without any 
danger of violating the church's law of fasting on Sun- 
day morning from 12 o'clock the night before. The 
priest as usual had his drink, "hard," while the bishop, 
for fear of giving scandal, had his "soft." The former 
had a little rye, while the latter took a little wine for his 
stomach's sake. 

The priest's housekeeper was rather young, in fact, 
too young to comply with the ecclesiastical laws on 
the age of housekeepers. She was gay and handsome, 
and the priest used her with all the dignity and respect 
due the first lady of the land. For years she sat by his 
side at the dining table. She poured out, and passed the 
tea. As the bishop sat down to dinner that Saturday, 
celibacy and chastity didn't seem to be a unique virtue. 
At any rate when the young lady took her usual seat 
opposite the priest, and, of course, next the bishop, the 



104 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

latter abruptly said to her! *'Madam this is not yoar 
place. The kitchen is where you belong. Get up from 
here and keep in your own place." The young domestic 
did so, while her lord and master, the priest, silently hung 
his head in regret that any ojffence had been offered his 
lordship. The bishop's dormitory opened into the din- 
ing room, and was doorless. It intercepted communica- 
tion with the other two sleeping departments. Before 
he retired, the priest went through for "some com- 
forters" excusing himself to the bishop, and brought 
them to his quarters, for the night was "exceeding cold." 
Concealed in the comforters was the richest jewel that 
priest possessed on earth, a living jewel, the recipient of 
his ardent love, a beautiful jewel that the rude and cruel 
bishop wounded so deeply at dinner table that day. 
The young damsel could sing thatnight to herself: "Love 
laughs at locksmiths, doors, bishops and celibates. And 
replies, my place isn't the kitchen, washing blue plates." 
Little the bishop imagined two persons of different gen- 
ders passed him with the comforters. 

The doctrine of celibacy is contrary to the holy 
Scripture and the most sacred institutions of God. To 
the first happy pair he said: * 'Multiply and replenish 
the earth." Christ our Lord consecrated marriage by 
his presence at that of Cana of Galilee. Most of the 
greatest saints, both under the law and the New Dis- 
pensation married. Enoch married, and surely no priest 
ever lived more justly than he, for he was translated by 
God to heaven. Need we mention Noah the righteous 
and his three sons. We will not speak of Job, that per- 
fect man; nor of Abraham, the father of the faithful; nor 
of Isaac, Jacob and his twelve sons. We need not men- 
tion Moses the holy prophet and law giver; nor Caleb, nor 
Gideon, nor King David, the inspired of God. Were not 
all these married men, and were not their marriages ac- 
ceptable to God? Were their lives not as pure and 
chaste as any of our celibate priests? The mother of 
Christ was a married woman; so was Hezekiah, Asa, 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 105 

Deborah, Aaron, the high priest of God. The holy priest 
Zacharias was the husband of Elizabeth, and the father of 
John the Baptist. The ancient Sanhedrim had to be 
composed only of married men. Celibacy was considered 
by all of these to be a sin. The Jews believed it to be a 
€rime, and barreness to be a dishonor. These people of 
God married in accordance with the laws of nature and 
the divine will. Why should marriage not be holy in 
priests and nuns, and in every body who is qualified 
mentally and physically to marry ? If Rome has con- 
demned the married state in priests where has she got 
the authority to do so \ 

The Apostle Peter whom the Romish church takes 
for its foundation was a married man, for St. Matthew 
says: "And when Jesus was come into Peter's house. 
He saw his wife's mother laid and sick with a fever." Is 
not this evidence that Peter was not a celibate priest, 
but a wedded Apostle, owning a wife and house of his 
own? If priests lived in their own houses, with their 
own wives and children, they would be better men. They 
would be more temperate men, and ha^dng something 
to live for, they would not lead dissipated lives in dwell- 
ings with wives not their own. St. Paul says: "Have 
we not the same power to lead about a sister, a wife, as 
well as the other Apostles, and the brethern of the Lord 
and Cephas (Peter.)" (I Cor. 9 Chap.) Peter never 
-abandoned his wife, as Romanists teach, for Paul says 
the above many years after Peter declared that he had 
abandoned all. God permits no man or church to put 
away a wife except for the causes as given in the Scrip- 
ture. On the contrary what God has joined together, 
no man must separate. But Peter and his wife were 
joined together by virtue of, and in accordance with 
God's institution, and certainly the Almighty would not 
break asunder what he himself put together. This is the 
teaching of Rome, that Peter was married, but after he 
was called to the ministry of Christ, he ran away from 
his wife, and Christ the Saviour approved of his in- 



106 • Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

fidelity. Who ever read of such blasphemous doctrine 
as this? This is making God the author of sin. Christ 
blessed marriage among the Apostles. He calls himself 
the bridegroom of the church. He affirms the sanctity 
of marriage in His sermon on the mount. 

This Divine institution of God of which Christ 
spoke with the Pharisees: "He which made them at the 
beginning made them male and female, and for this 
cause shall a man have father and mother and cleave to 
his wife and the twain shall be one flesh." This divine 
institution the pope renders null and void as far as it 
relates to the hierarchy and priesthood. The Scripture 
says: "What God has joined together let no man 
separate;" but the papal creed adds; ''except the pope 
and he can separate all matrimonial unions if one of the 
parties be priests, nuns or monks." The pope is equal 
to every emergency, even the word of God he defies, for 
he takes from, and adds thereto until he gets it to ap- 
parently harmonize with his dogmas. 

St. Paul declares: "Marriage is honorable in all." 
The pope adds: "except in priests and nuns." The same 
blessed Apostle says: "A bishop then must be blame- 
less, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good 
behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given 
to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but 
patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleth w^ell 
his own house, having his children in subjection with all 
gravity, for if a man know not how to rule his own 
house, how shall he take care of the house of God?" Is 
it not beyond doubt that these words of Paul to Timothy 
(1 Tim. 3) permit at least marriage to all orders of the 
clergy? If they do not, language then has no meaning. 
Besides, Paul calls the doctrine of forbidding to marry a 
• "doctrine of devils." "Forbidding to marry and abstain 
from meats, which God has created to be received with 
thanksgiving of them that believe and know the truth." 
(1 Tim. 4 Chap.) 

The immorality, resulting as a necessary conse- 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 107 

quence of celibacy, has always been, since the latter was 
introduced prevalent. A certain pope licensed brothels 
in Rome, so notorious were the immoral habits of the 
clergy. Ask history why Pope Sextus, the Fourth es- 
tablished houses of ill-fame, right within sight of the 
Vatican? Let the Roman Senate tell? Let weeping 
fathers and broken hearted mothers tell? One and all 
will confess with the senate that it was to prevent the 
priests from seducing their wdves and daughters. Even 
the succeeding popes who attempted to suppress these 
dens of vice were defeated on the same grounds, namely, 
that these abodes of immorality were necessary for the 
celibate priests. 

Human nature is the same all over. It is the same 
in the priests to-day, as it was in the middle age. Priests 
now are no more angels or spirits than they were then, 
and hence the immoral effects of celibacy are as numer- 
ous now, though more cunningly concealed. Intimida- 
tion of public opinion keeps most of them from coming 
to the sufface. When a priest commits a heinous crime 
against holy purity, it is anything but easy to expose 
him. Catholics, one and all, arise to defend him, and 
screen him. A mixture of shame, intimidations, belief 
in his miraculous power, bigotry and love for their 
church, protect him from arrest and punishment, es- 
pecially when the violated party are Roman Catholics, 
which is generally the case. Notwithstanding these 
hedges, yet enough outrages come to the surface to show 
that many of the rev. celibates (1 will write ''reverend" 
with a small *'r" for it is a disgrace to give them r. at 
all much more to give them a cap) are moral lepers, 
wolves in sheep's clothing, savage brutes, who spare 
neither the age nor condition of their victim. Father 

O , who is still on trial in the courts of Ohio, as 

this book goes to press, for the brutal murder of the 
young lady referred to in another chapter, would not now 
have the hangman's halter staring him in the face had he 
led a life of purity, and protested against the human 



108 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

dogma of clerical celibacy, But he didn't. Let Roman 
Catholics ask themselves sincerely could Father O. be 
really a pure moral man all these years up to the time of 
the tragedy. 

We have also the notorious Father C. driven out of 
Crookston, Minn., for drugging a married woman, and 
debauching her before he was changed to the mission of 
Two Harbors. 

The apologists of Rome, who contend that celibacy 
is a virtue, and that the priests are angels should read 
more than the Catholic weekly newspapers to see the 
sacerdotal brutal moral nature that bulges out on the sur- 
face. Then we have of recent occurrence the moral 
effect of Father Flaherty, of St. Patrick's Catholic 
church, Mt. Morris, N. Y., who has been guilty of be- 
traying young Miss Sweeny, one of his flock, 15 years 
of age. The acts of the two last mentioned priests 
show that they have been worse than raptors, ghouls and 
vandals. Flaherty has been sent to Auburn prison for 
seven years, which is a light punishment when compared 
with the gravity of his crime. 

To show that a priest is not silenced by his bishop 
for immorality as long as he remains single the following 
testifies : 

"The examination of Father at on 

the charge of assaulting Miss Julia S. was con- 
cluded last evening, and he was held to await the action 

of the grand jury. Miss S.'s condition is very 

serious. Fearing that in the event of the death of Miss 

S J Father might be in danger of being 

lynched, Judge Ensign, of the district court ordered 

him brought to the county jail, and he is now 

here. 

Miss S. testified that the priest assaulted 

her after inducing her to drink drugged wine. The at- 
torney and stenographer took her deposition at her bed 

side, where she recognized Father , she is 18 

years of age. About one year ago Father was 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 109 

obliged to leave C n to escape the wrath of a hus- 
band whose wife he had assaulted." 

Celibacy is fatal to purity and chastity, especially 
involuntary celibacy. It is the curse of the Eoman 
church, it and intoxicating drink. It disgraces the 
Catholic church, and secretly ruins multitudes of 
precious souls, for whom Christ died. Thousands in 
every diocese of Catholics, loose virtue by the secret 
scandals of their father confessors. Oh what a crime! 
"Woe be to those by whom the scandal cometh." 

The nature of the single life of the Roman Catholic 
clergy blunts their finests sentiments, and imparts, in- 
stead, hearts of stone, hearts with self gratifying desires 
— hearts replete with impure, sensual thoughts; and if 
they cannot gratify them, it is not their fault. If the 
congregation saw and knew the moral state of the heart 
and conscience of the celebrant of the mass, they would 
never bend a knee to him in the confessional; nor would 
they ever enter a church to hear mass. His conception 
of, and thoughts towards, woman are crude and bestial, 
in the extreme. He experiences not the human feelings 
of a man, a father's love for children, a woman's true 
affection, or any of the finer feelings of our nature. 
When ushered into their society he acts like a wild rab- 
bit in the parlor, or a caged bird that gets into open 
space. Every thing presents an impression different 
from what it would be, were he an ordinary man. He 
beholds verdant plains on the barren desert, and cows 
with long horns browsing through gardens of roses. Men 
of this cursed system can have no holy aptitude for the 
service of God. They cannot serve God and mammon. 

What is the remedy? Accept the gospel of Christ. 
Come to Christ. He will show the way of life. He is 
life itself. Abandon the system of enforced celibacy, 
and seek the Lord Jesus Christ when He can be found. 
He is willing to receive us at all hours, and in all places. 
His loving invitation is extended to all: "Come unto 
Me." He is as ready to help us now as he was while in 



110 J^ifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

the flesh on the earth to help and comfort the. centurion's 
servant, the thief on the cross, the blessed Apostle Paul, 
the widow of Nain and multitudes of others, who sought 
Him for mercy, help and salvation. Why should we not 
put more trust in him and his word than in man? He is 
able to save us, but man is not. He has only to say to 
those in deadly sin: "Arise," and they will be forthwith 
whole. But oh, if man be preferred to Jesus! "What 
shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and 
lose his own soul." (Mat. 8:36.) 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 111 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Illegitimacy. 

If illegitimacy were less in Roman Catholic coun- 
tries than in Protestant lands, it would be surprising to 
the moralist, and to the historian. It is as natural to ex- 
pect illegitimacy to be predominating where ever Rome 
exercises a controlling influence, as it is to find water 
seeking its level, and the leaves of the trees moving when 
the ^dnd blows. 

It is a natural result of the practice of unnatural and 
unscriptural doctrines. The child that is permitted to 
walk and live in the mud will grow up in filth, and leave 
behind its foot prints. 

If doctrines and practices of one's life are so as to 
not only permit the youth and the adult to wallow in the 
mire, but tacitly encourage them, what can be expected? 

It is not necessary here to give full statistics to show 
that there is more illegitimacy in Roman Catholic coun- 
tries than in Protestant countries. Rome, the metropolis 
of popery, has been conceded by historians and constant 
observers to be the worst city in the world, and this 
mind you, when the pope had full control. In 1876, 
while the crime of illegitimacy in England was but 46 
per the 1,000, it was 194 per 1,000 in Rome. There were, 
of course, other cities in the world which had a larger 
percentage, but let it be noted that they were Roman 
Catholic cities. Mr. Gladstone is authority for the state- 
ment that Rome has improved 21 per cent since the pope 
has lost the temporal power in 1871. Roman Catholics 
who visited the papal states, when Pope Pias, the Ninth 
was in power, know how immoral the people were. They 
know how many children domiciled there, whose parents 
were either unknown, or had abandoned them shortly 
after birth. A short time before I left that church, a 
priest of more than ordinary culture, said to me. "I 
would advise no priest to visit Rome and the papal 



112 Fiftee7i Years Behind the Curtains. 

states. I am sorry I ever went there, I have seen such 
immorality and public scandals among the priests and 
monks there that I am now, I believe an infidel." 

"If that would make me an infidel," said I, "1 would 
be one long ago, but it only serves to strengthen my 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ — and his word. Christ's 
true church will always exist, pure and independent of 
these wolves of Rome in sheep's clothing." It is now 
many years since that statement, and I feel firmer to day 
than ever in the immutable truth of God, that his church 
is built on the rock, and the gates of hell shall not pre- 
vail against it. I feel to-day that my faith is founded on 
Christ, the immovable rock of ages. I feel that I abide 
in Him, and all the storms of infidelity, arising from 
priests, bishops, or Protestant ministers, if you will, can- 
not move me. Thank God for his grace, through Jesus 
Christ, the treachery, immorality and infidelity of the 
Eomish priests at the very fountain head of the church, 
th e papacy, in the City of Rome, have not washed me 
away with the sand and debris. The scandals of the 
Romish clergy were too much for the priest above 
mentioned, he drifted with the current, forsook the faith 
of his fathers, and never turned to repose faith in the 
true head of the church, Jesus Christ. 

Such candid and illustrious men as Macaulay, Dean, 
Alford, and Mr. Gladstone are worthy of credit, but all 
these bear testimony to the wickedness under the papal 
system . M. Edmond writing when the pope possessed 
temporal power, as well as spiritual says: 

"The Roman state is the most radically Catholic in 
Europe, seeing that it is governed by the vicars of Jesus 
Christ Himself. It is also the most fertile in crimes of 
every description, and above all of violent crimes. This 
he explains by saying that Europe handed over the three 
millions of men who dwell in the papal states to the pope, 
and that accordingly his first duty is to say mass at St. 
Peter's for 139,000,000 Roman Catholics; his second 
duty is to make a dignified appearance, to receive com- 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 113 

pany, to wear a crown, and to take care it does not fall 
off his head. But it is a matter of perfect indifference to 
him that his subjects brawl, rob, or murder one another^ 
so long as they don't attack either his church or his 
government. Rome punishes sins, clasps into jail the 
silly fellow, who refuses to take the communion at 
Easter. But the crimes and offenses of which the na- 
tives are guilty towards one another, affect the pope and 
the cardinals very remotely. What matters it to the 
successors of the Apostles that a few workmen and 
peasants should cut one another's throats after Sunday 
vespers? There will always be enough of them left to 
pay the taxes." 

The most of the children abandoned by parents in 
the papal states and in Rome, during the reign of Pius 
the Ninth, have been illegitimate. In the space of ten 
years 306,000 children were abandoned by parents. In 
the City of Rome alone, over eight hundred infants are 
picked up fi'om the door steps of convents, priests' 
houses and elsewhere. A large percentage of the found- 
lings in this country, if not found at the doors of Romish 
institutions, by hereditary right belong there. Ask the 
sisters of the foundling homes where a large portion of 
them belong to. They can tell, if they have the moral 
courage to do so; but that courage and personal liberty 
to speak, they do not enjoy. Their lips are sealed as 
marble. Of the abundance of the heart their mouth 
never can speak. They are not only "dead to the 
world," but dead to the use of their own organs and 
senses. When a young woman who desires to conceal 
her condition comes to a convent or house of "The Good 
Shepherd," to seek advice and protection from publicity, 
she is comforted by the good sisters. I always had a 
higher opinion of the majority of these women than I 
had of priests. They do more good along the lines of 
mercy, true charity and motherly comfort. Let me here 
refute the many accusations made against different orders 
of nuns, as institutions for the reception of the sacerdotal 



114 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

celibates. I never knew any of them to be such. And 
if any of them were the free and easy abodes of iniquity 
that they are often painted, I am sure that I would know 
of it during my long ministry with the churches and con- 
vents to which I have often acted as chaplain in different 
states. 1 never knew of subterranean passages into the 
sisters' abodes; if they existed, I would certainly know it, 
and if I knew it, most assuredly the fact would here be 
exposed. In one of my lectures, leaving Rome, I said in 
reply to a question from a man, very much misinformed 
about Roman Catholic sisters, that the sisters with few 
exceptions were free from the charge imputed, that they 
were manifold times better Christians than priests and the 
system under which they live. I hereby repeat and 
emphasize that fact. The nuns are under personal con- 
trol of a mother superioress, and she under that of the 
bishop of the diocese in which the institution is located. 
The one person is a slave to the next above, and so on 
to his holiness at Rome. If a sister take in male visitors 
against the will of the lady over her, she is put to do pen- 
ance, perhaps in a dark cell on bread and water for 
several days. If an act of disobedience be repeated, the 
penance is increased, and so on ad indefinitum. How- 
ever, in that respect, rules are not often violated. 
The usual visitors are priests who are often received in 
the play room in presence of all the sisters, and hospit- 
ably treated to wine and cake and cigars. That is aU. 
No cards are indulged in, or immoral conduct. Again, 
the sisters are "good," not because of the moral influ- 
ence of their church, but the rigorous formal discipline 
wielded over them by tyrants. They are good, if obedi- 
ence to those rules of ecclesiastical discipline is good- 
ness. Many of the nuns are too weak to be wicked, 
even if they desired to be, having entered the convent, be- 
cause rendered hopeless invalids in the world, from some 
cause or other. Many I know who never would have be- 
come nuns were it not for this inaptitude to the emer- 
gencies and ordinary callings of the world. They were 



Fifteen Years Be hind the Curtains. 115 

not fit to live in it, and that they considered as a sign 
from God that they were called to serve him out of the 
world. 

No. Many of these illegitimate children, discovered 
about the premises of nuns, have fathers, living out in 
fat parishes in the city or country. They have charge of 
souls, and are Roman Catholic pastors in ''good stand- 
ing" in the church. Their poor victims have been ship- 
ped ofi*, perhaps ^ith S50, |100 or $200 to meet expenses 
resulting from the girl's condition, and thus at the same 
time cover up the tracks of the holy spiritual and tem- 
poral fathers and keep scandal from the "heretics." 

The girl, if a good Catholic will do so. The sisters 
will know it from the mother of the child, but it will go 
no farther. The mother of the infant may confess the 
circumstances of the condition in which her betrayer left 
her; his position and office as priest, but that being told 
in the confessional seals it for ever to oblivion. The 
outside world shall never know it until the angel shall 
sound the last trumpet, and all men shall come to judg- 
ment. 

When these illegitimate infants are baptized at the 
institutions where born, the name of the male parent is 
registered in the church book, ])atre igiiote OYjyatre ignoto, 
just as the priest registering, studied Cicero, or not, 
(that is in EngUsh, "father unknown.") This is lying in 
the face of heaven, in black and white, on paper of the 
holy books of the church, when that priest or bishop pre- 
siding over the convent must know at least from confes- 
sion of the infants' mother that Rev. Father 

parish diocese county state, is 

really the father of the child. 

When the Rev. Father becomes in this way a father 
too fi'equently, the bishop hearing the victim's confes- 
sion, may insist that she speak to himself outside the 
confession, so that he can write him, and reprimand him 
for his undue familiarity. The lady, of course, does so, 
when requested by a bishop. 



116 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

What is the punishment then? Well, the bishop 
separates the priest from his beloved. The latter may re- 
tire to the convent for life, or she may seek employment 
in another part of the country. The priest is sometimes^ 
sent off to a college or monastery for a few weeks to pray 
and fast so as to pull down his corporosity a little by 
living on plain vegetarian food, and avoiding intoxicating^ 
liquors. Does this discipline effect a cure? Yes, it does,, 
as long as the priest is confined in the monastery, and 
sees nothing but mouldy cells and mouldy monks. When 
he returns to his charge he rushes into the same tempta- 
tions with the liberated force that the frozen Niagara at- 
tains in the thaw of early spring. 

The causes, leading to the crime of illegitimacy, the 
Roman Hierachy do not try to remove with the same 
persistency that they uphold an unmarried life for tha 
clergy. 

The clergy have not raised their voices against it in 
Rome with that zeal that the gravity of the crime de- 
manded. They have not done so among the Spanish 
Americans who have their illegitimates so common that 
they call them their ^'little roosters." The church doea 
not its duty in this respect in Spain, France or Ireland. 
In these countries large numbers of priests are constantly 
found at houses of retreat doing penance for illegitimacy. 
The same is the case in the United States, where some 
of our monasteries have constantly from one to two dozen 
priests basking themselves in the sun. What are they 
there for? Their poor misguided flocks at home don't 
know. Perhaps it is as well, for their loss of confidence 
in the priest, is generally a loss of faith in the human 
race and all religion. In Ireland the clergy can't fail to 
observe the irregular conduct of the sexes and their 
promiscuous mingling in public and private. They wit- 
ness it at the confessionals at private houses, at funerals, 
wakes, weddings and christenings. On several of these 
occasions, the position of the young lady, in relation to 
her sweetheart, is like that of the infant on the mother's 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 117 

knee. When on a visit to Ireland, some time ago, I 
asked a priest there why they allowed such conduct be- 
tween the sexes, saying by way of contrast, that it would 
not be tolerated by Americans. He said: "Our people 
have no evil thoughts in that way, it is the Yankees who 
are too wicked to mix with the opposite sex Avithout sin." 

It is no wonder that so many Irish girls take so sud- 
den leave of home and friends, and cross the seas to con- 
ceal their unhappy state. The Roman Catholic mission, 
started some years ago at Castle Garden, New York, was 
intended to meet the needs of such homeless females of 
the faith, and for a small amount from the immi- 
grants send them to houses of the "Good Shepherd," 
where they might better retain the Romish faith, and 
cover the scandals of the clergy on the other side. 

Notwithstanding these facts already given, some 
Roman Catholics will read these pages, and say that 
it is not true; that the priests are as pure as angels 
of such charges. They will say so, though, at this 
writing 1896, a once prominent priest in Ireland, Rev. 

-Father O'G. is on trial for the murder of a lady he 

wanted to become his paramour. He followed the young 
lady from his parish in Ireland, and shot her dead 
publicly on the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio, because she 
would not reciprocate his beastly love. I have taken 
special pains to ascertain the facts in this tragedy, 
and now publish it for the public good in general, 
and that of Roman Catholics in particular. 

At this time Rev. Father F. , until recently 

pastor of St. Patrick's church, Mt. Morris, N. Y., has 
been sentenced to the penitentiary at Auburn, for 
seven years. The crime, as usual, is one of undue 
relation with a woman of his congregation. 

In the same state is a prominent priest in church 

circles, at least, whose name is Rev. John L , and 

whose victim became a mother under distressing cir- 
cumstances being turned out penniless and rendered in 
Ifirm for life. 



118 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

Then we have the Kev. Father of Two 

Harbors fame, whose barbarous treatment of his seduced 
unfortunate, has rarely, if ever been equalled. It is re- 
volting to relate, and altogether disgusting, and unfit to 
appear on these pages. 

We could give a long list of these ecclesiastical be- 
trayers, coming to the surface in the space of the last 
few years. But let the present suffice to prove my 
statements. 

Not a few of the illegitimate cases have their incep- 
tion in the dark and silent confessional box. Let us 
close this chapter by relating a case right at the door 
with us at Pittsburg. Through human respect, at least,^ 
I will omit the Rev. Father's name for the present. How- 
ever, any one who desires it on application shall be freely 
furnished therewith. 

The Rev. Father attempted a cowardly act with his 
female penitent at a time and place that is usually con- 
sidered by the church a grave sacrilige. 

The penitent's evidence in court is in part as fol- 
lows: "Two weeks ago I went to Rev. Father to 

confession. While in the confessional box he talked 
freely with me on various matters. I was in with 
him about a half hour. He put his arm just around 
my neck and kissed me several times. I remonstrat- 
ed, but he merely told me he would see me again. On 
July 13th, while I was walking along the avenue, past his 
church with my sister's infant in my arms, the priest called 
me from the church door. He told me he wanted to tell 
me something very important, and asked me to step into 
his house. I replied that I was in a hurry to get my 
husband's supper, and could not spare time. He insisted 
so that finally I walked with him into the house. Once^ 
inside he locked the door, and put the key in his pocket. 
I begged him to let me go; but he told me he meant no 
harm towards me. He took the baby from my arms and 
placed it on the floor, and then began kissing me. After 
I struggled for a few minutes with him to get away, he 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains » 119' 

became bolder. I then screamed, and the baby began to 
cry. He said he would go and get the baby a drink of 
water, and went to the kitchen for that ^purpose. Find- 
ing the side door unlocked I took the child in my arms, 
and rushed out. I looked back and saw him standing in 
amazement, looking after me. On reaching home I told 
my husband of what happened, so he had him arrested." 
This is one of many similar cases in this city and county 
of Allegheny, and comment is unnecessary. The lady 
attacked in this latter case is a prepossessing young 
woman, 23 years old, and recently married. Her hus- 
band being a "good Koman Catholic," and loath to 
expose a holy priest of the church, settled the affair by 
accepting $450 from the priest who told him go home 
and say his prayers in silence. 



120 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

CHAPTER XIY. 

Morality of Roman Catholic Church. 

If the Roman Catholic church is the only true, holy 
apostolic church which she claims to be, and out of which 
she claims there is no salvation, she must be distin- 
guished by her holiness from all other churches, creeds 
and systems. In this chapter we will subject the Roman 
Catholic church to that test of Christ: "By their fruits 
ye shall know them." (Matt. 7:20.) If it is found that 
she bears better moral fruit than any other system, she 
is entitled to her self-constituted adjectives, "holy," 
''Roman," "Catholic," "Apostolic." 

In the first place it must be conceded by every one 
acquainted with Rome's doctrines and sacraments that 
they are unholy in their operations, and, therefore, neces- 
sarily inductive to unhohness o± life. Dead salt, salt 
that lost its savor, instead of fertilizing the soil, blights 
and destroys all the fertility thereof wherever it is cast. 
The doctrines of the Romish church are, for the most 
part, dead spiritually, for they do not even pretend to 
give grace by the power of the spirit, but by that of 
inert matter; for instance, water, oil, salt, imposition of 
hands and other material application of things. In a 
word, they promise grace and salvation from what Rome 
terms: "Ex opere operato;" that is, from the work 
itself performed. The doctrine of confession to a priest 
encourages one indirectly, and often directly, to con- 
tinue in his evil ways. 

The celebrated Dr. Achilli, who, for many years, 
had the honor of being near the pope, and was weU 
acquainted with the confessional, says, in his "Dealinofs 
with the Inquisition:" "Who is there that having ful- 
filled that rite of yours does not feel persuaded, that he 
has settled his accounts, to open them again with greater 
extravagance. Let facts convince you. Where are the 
greatest number of robbers, traitors, adulterers, if not in 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 121 

the midst of your Catholics? And why? Because it 
costs them nothing to cast themselves at the feet of one 
of your plenipotentiaries to cancel every iniquity." 

The laws and constitution of the Roman Catholic 
church lead to unholy practices, because unholy them- 
selves. The constitution admits as members into the 
church all manner of men and women. It takes into her 
bosom notorious sinners, gamblers, drunkards, adulterers, 
liars, perjurers; and this she does knowingly and will- 
ingly. The only obligation imposed on them if they be 
adults is to confess before a priest that they believe in 
the Roman Catholic church and all she teaches. Once 
they do that, they are there and then full-fledged "holy 
Roman Catholics." But it may be here asked, is there 
any change of heart in such members? Certainly not; 
for they are not directed to Him who would take away 
the heart of stone and implant the indwelling spirit. 
Their heart is in no disposition to receive the spirit of 
Christ. Hence the spirit cannot enter such who are 
converted not to Him, but to Rome. They are not 
"born of God." They are not the "new creatures," with 
new affections, new aspirations, but the same old sinners, 
ready after the little excitement is over, to repeat their 
iniquity. Those who stole will steal again; those who 
fornicated will return to the vomit again, and those who 
perjured, blasphemed and desecrated the Sabbath will 
readily repeat their transgressions. Will confession to 
a priest change the wicked heart? Certainly not. On 
the contrary, it only confirms them in their repetitions, 
and panders to their corrupt nature. That is why we 
find such a low, vulgar, besotted crowd of penitents 
swarming around the confessional box in every Catholic 
church like so many vultures waiting for the carcass. 
The confession makes a man lie, equivocate and perjure 
himself after confession, if sworn as to what he confessed 
as penitent, or as to what he heard as confessor. How 
can that which is unholy in its very nature render a man 
holy? It makes bashful penitents conceal sins, and, 



122 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

henceforth, makes them habitual liars. The force that 
makes the twig crooked makes the tree crooked. It 
makes him impure in thought, word and act by contem- 
plating over the immoral table of sins so filthy and abom- 
inable that they cannot here be mentioned without sully- 
ing the pure heart, and even tarnishing the Christian ear. 

The doctrine of indulgence that holds out an induce- 
ment to sin by promising sinners years of remission if 
their repetition of a few prayers, between which and the 
gravity of the sins committed there is as much propor- 
tion as between a molecule and indefinite space. 

Th^se doctrines, with most of the others, lead to 
unholiness in the popes, bishops, priests and people. 
Unholy doctrines, I said, lead to unholy practices, and 
unholy practices constitute the unholy life. How can 
the members be righteous when their head and laws are 
unrighteous? 

Roman Catholic theology teaches that dissimulation, 
equivocation, menal reservation, telling untruth for the 
good of the church, the end justifies the means, that evil 
may be done if good comes therefrom, taking an oath 
without being bound by it, and similar crimes are lawful. 
How can any creature, be he pope, cardinal or ordinary 
priest be an honest man, much less holy, who is guided 
by such a standard of morality? He cannot. The whole 
moral code of Rome is so vile and sensual that it cannot 
bear an English translation. It has to be concealed away 
in Latin in the musty shelves of Romish booksellers to 
the "holy (?) apostolic see." 

Any bookstore in Pittsburg that would venture to 
sell a literal translation of the moral theology of Gury or 
Scavani, both of which are standard class books in Roman 
Catholic seminaries for the young levites of the Romish 
priesthood, would be prosecuted for selling obscene 
literature. 

While it must be admitted that there have been, and 
are now, good, earnest Christians in the church of Rome, 
and that they are so in spite of the teachings of that 



Fifteen Years Behtna the Curtains. 123 

church, these have been few and far between. Multi- 
tudes of popes, bishops and priests have been, and are 
now, the most secret sinners that wallow in the mire. 

Cardinal Baronius, whom every good Catholic takes 
for authority, says in his Ecclesiastical Annals: "St. 
Peter's chair held the greatest monsters of the age. Lust 
claimed everything to itself. How many monsters hor- 
rible to behold, were intruded into the seat which is rev- 
erenced by angels! With what filth was it her fate to be 
besprinkled, with what stench to be infected, with what 
impurities to be defiled!" Luther, in one of his visits to 
Rome, exclaimed: "If there be a hell, Rome is built on 
it; it is an abyss from whence all sins proceed." 

Perhaps my Roman Catholic reader will say, yes we 
had some bad popes and priests and members, and so 
have the Protestant churches. Yes, true; but the 
Protestant churches root out her evil members when 
discovered. The wicked and unconverted, if found in 
Protestant churches, are sat upon by the other members 
who, at once, withdraw the hand of fellowship. But the 
Roman Catholic church always retains her members, 
though they be public sinners, gamblers, saloonkeepers, 
drunkards, in fact, everything. It goes all right with 
them, provided they fulfill the law of the church ; that is, 
obey her, and go at least once a year to confession to the 
priest. Who ever heard of a man being cut off from the 
Roman church for drunkenness, adultery, blasphemy, 
desecration of the Sabbath, lying, perjury, or any other 
sin in the catalogue of sins as long as he said: "I believe 
in thee, oh, holy Roman Catholic church as the only 
true church on earth; and I curse, anathematize and con- 
demn whatever thou dost condemn!" The only thing 
that makes a man immoral in the eyes of Rome, and for 
which she curses him, "is the denial of the Romish 
faith." 

Bllarmine, the great Roman Catholic authority, 
says: "In the one true church, the holy Roman Catho- 
lic church, are great sinners, and that not only con- 



124 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtaitis. 

cealed, but manifest. The immoralities of the the Koman 
Catholic priesthood have time and again been condemned 
by councils of the church, but to no purpose. They are 
as gross and sensual to-day as when the councils of Paris 
and Toledo sat upon them and deplored their persistent 
disgrace in the 15th century. These councils endeavored 
to stem the obscenity, voluptuousness and unchastity of 
the priesthood. The council of Cologne, in the 16tli 
century, pronounced as the greatest evil of the day the 
impure lives of the clergy. Monks, nuns and priests 
were all denounced by them as defiled and guilty of sins, 
too horrible to be related therein, much less printed. 
The priests nearest to Rome, the Italians, were repri- 
manded and accused by these councils as the most 
licentious of the church. The select council convened 
by Pope Paul the Fourth had for its object the detec- 
tion and exposure of priests who solicited their female 
penitents in the confessional, and afterwards accom- 
plished their ruin. To Paul's credit be it said that he 
attempted to eradicate this monstrous evil by demanding 
under the pain of censure every wcman who had 
been solicited to report the name of her confessional 
solicitor. Many females complied with this command 
from the pope, while more, through shame and servile rev- 
erence to the priest, absolutely refused. But suffice it to 
say, that so many reported names of solicitors that it took 
40 recorders for four months daily to write the names of 
the seducing priests. History shows that the names 
were too numerous to be taken down by the officers, and 
the attending difficulties were so embarassing and the 
circumstances of such a delicate nature that finally the 
pope gave up the experiment and left solicitation where 
he found it, without accomplishing anything or punish- 
ing those found guilty. It was detected by this council 
that the priests were nearly all using the confessional for 
unlawful and sensual ends, and worked on the knowledge 
they received from the penitents to accomplish their 
ruin. Pope Paul the Fourth declared that priests kept 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 125 

concubines in splendid palaces and gorgeous mansions, 
where they walked with them at noonday through the 
holy city of Kome, to the scandal of the whole world. 
These scandals were not confined alone to the priests, 
but were committed by bishops, cardinals and popes. 
Fornication, adultery, incest and sodomy were common 
crimes among the higher clergy. 

"By tiieir fruits ye shall know them." What sort 
of fruit has the church borne in the past? The above is 
a sample. What sort is she bearing now? The very 
same. One of Rome's axioms is that she never changes. 
What her doctrine, discipline and life were in the 15th 
century, it is about the same in the 19th century. Where 
the majority of people in country or sectian thereof, are 
Protestant Christians, it makes a difference of course 
with Rome. She changes a little from her beaten rut of 
Catholic lands to keep up with the spirit of progress and 
civilization. But take it in Catholic localities at present 
and what is the morality of the Romish subjects? What 
is the moral tone in Quebec Province cx)mpared to that 
of Ontario? What is that of Mexico contrasted Avith 
Canada? Even in many parts of California the priests 
continue yet to patronize the saloons. At least they had 
been doing so a few years ago. In San Diego, Los 
Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Francisco — all in the 
United States — the priests have been in the habit of 
going into the saloon after mass to wet the wafer and 
render it digestible. On these occasions they select a 
hotel, or *'a private place" kept by one of their own con 
gregation. I have seen the priests and bishops of that 
sunny land — that land of milk and honey — having 
recourse to intoxicating liquor as soon as they put off the 
vestments at the altar. What pure (?) thoughts and sen- 
timents this devilish beverag^e must ofenerate in the 
hearts of men — priests of God, who believe they consume 
at the altar the flesh and blood of our Lord and Master 
Jesus Christ! Oh what dishonor to the name of Christ, 
to dare say they take his material flesh and accompany 



126 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

it so soon with stimulating liquor! "By their fruits ye 
shall know them." Oh what scandal to those of their 
flock who often follow them, not only in faith and doc- 
trine, but in the diabolical practice of frequenting tav- 
erns and immoral dens of vice on that blessed day which 
God commands all to keep holy. 

Priests and people do the same in Ireland. First, 
they go to mass; second, they go to the saloon; third, 
they go to debauchery and dissipation. 

If the Roman Catholic church were the only true, 
holy church, would its practice be so corrupt? A good 
tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, nor an evil tree good 
fruit. The fruit of wicked, worldly, sensual, drunken 
living is so characteristic of the Romish church that she 
cannot be designated other than a system of hell, whose 
vice-regents go all over the earth seeking whom they 
may devour. 

No people can be holy by virtue of doctrines and 
practices that oblige the people to hear mass on Sunday, 
and after mass permit them to participate in secular 
works, gambling, drinking and general desecration. But 
the Romish doctrines allow such unholy living on the 
Lord's day. In Spain and Mexico they have attended 
mass, and for years have gone to the bull fights on 
Sunday afternoon. It is not unusual in these and other 
Roman Catholic countries to find women making gar- 
ments, men working in the garden, some carousing and 
desecrating the day in riotous living. 

In 1893 th^ Protestants of Scotland, according to 
the census then taken, supplied only one criminal in 
every 117 persons, While the Roman Catholics supplied 
1 in every 19. 

In England Protestants supplied 1 in every 200 per- 
sons, while the Roman Catholics furnished 1 in every 40 
of the population. Of the juvenile criminals in Ireland 
for the same period of one year Protestants furnished 
but 62 of the criminals, while Roman Catholics have 
supplied 588. This speaks very badly for the morality 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 127 

of the Roman Catholic church, when it is remembered 
that in Great Britain and Ireland the Roman Catholics 
were only as 1 to 7 of the entire population of these 
countries. In other words, the Protestants in these 
countries above-named have numbered seven times more 
than the Romanists, yet the Romanists give three times 
as many criminals. The Roman Catholics of Liverpool 
in 1885, though but a sixth of the entire population of 
that city, contributed more than half of the criminals. 
Let any one get the latest statistics of crime in New" 
York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco and see what 
people contribute to swelling the ranks of drunkards, 
murders, thieves, gamblers and all manner of confidence 
scoundrels and bunco swindlers. It will be found that 
nearly two-thirds of all the evil-doers are, or have been, 
Roman Catholics. "By their fruits ye shall know them." 
"A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit." 

Of all the criminals above-named, Protestants, very 
few of them weffe found to be members of any church. 
They were for the most part unconverted people of the 
world, who, when asked what their religion was, pre- 
ferred to say Protestant to Catholic. 

Since, therefore, Rome's doctrines incline to sin, her 
members are induced to practice unholy living; since her 
priests, bishops and popes have been among the most 
scandalous and sensual sinners. And since Rome's con- 
stitution admits actual sinners to membership, and retains 
them in the church to death — all this proves only too 
clearly that the Roman Catholic church has no valid 
claim to morality. 



128 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Roman Catholic Theology. 

In this chapter will be quoted some questions with 
replies from standard Roman Catholic theologies to show 
how lying, stealing, and even murder are under certain 
circumstances allowed. I refer the reader to Gury's 
moral theology which is an acknowledged standard of 
morals in the Roman church; also Scavani's moral 
theology which upholds the following doctrine: 

''Florine makes this confession: I have lied, but I 
did not believe I was sinning, because I was constrained 
by a very grave motive; it was to excuse my cousin, and 
save him from a severe chastisement. Question. Can 
Florine be excused from sin, and is her action commen- 
able? Answer: She ought to be excused from the sin 
of lying, because of an invincible, erroneous conscience. 
Moreover, she has acted well. What rtright be opposed 
to this decision is that she might have in view a formal 
evil; now that cause does not exist, because it is suffi- 
cient, in order to be meritorious, that the end in view 
should be good in principle, so that in conscience one 
should be convinced of its excellency. Do not say that 
an object materially bad, is opposed to the divine will, 
because though it is opposed to the primary divine will, 
it is not opposed to the secondary one, b}^ which God 
orders, or permits us to do something, in supposing our 
ignorance insuperable. God, indeed, by his consequent 
will, wants man to do what he feels uncontrolably ob- 
liged to do." 

Many other such samples of lying and theft might 
here be quoted from Gury and Den's theology, but this 
example of how wilful lying is authorized by the highest 
authority of the Roman moralists is sufficient to show 
the immoral means that may be used to accomplish an 
end. 

Here follows another moral case, sustained by Rev, 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 129 

Father Gury, S. J.: "Jacob has killed Mark, who was 
ruining his family by his luxury and habits of drunken- 
ness. His confessor orders him to give a sum of money 
as an indemnity to Mark's family. Jacob answers that 
the death of Mark, instead of being- a misfortune is a 
profit to his family. His confessor insists; and as Jacob 
persistently refuses to obey, the confessor sends him 
away without giving him absolution. Question: Ought 
Jacob in reality to indemnify the family of Mark whom 
he has killed? Should the confessor order him to give 
this compensation? 

Answer: *'No; for Jacob has not caused any damage 
to the family, and he has even prevented it from being 
more ruined. When the confessor by reason of justice, 
could not order him to indemnify the family, threaten- 
ing him with the refusal of absolution. He could only 
impose on him a penance, either of giving some money 
to the family, if it was in need, or of giving it as alms to 
the poor." This is an instance of justification by works. 

By giving a little "alms to the poor." satisfaction is 
made God for a cold blooded murder. Where is the 
moral connection between the act of taking away human 
Kfe, committing murder, and giving some money to 
paupers? Can a donation of money to paupers make 
restitution for violating a commandment of God? If so, 
where in holy Scripture have we any proof of the 
theology? Such theology must be sought for among the 
black arts and the polluted tablets of their cloven-footed 
author, Satan himself? Gury must have graduated at 
the royal college of thieves, liars and murderers, for it 
bulges out in every pore with their doctrines and 
principles. 

According to moral theology it is lawful to commit 
a lesser sin to avoid a greater. For instance, a man may 
get drunk, fornicate or commit adultery to avoid the sin 
of murder. A husband may let his parents perish in 
order to save his wife. A steward who thinks he does 
more service for his employer than he bargained for, 



130 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

may appropriate privately from the funds of his master, 
and he is to be the judge himself of how much he shall 
take. Such a servant, according to Gary and Scavani 
and Liguori, is not guilty of theft, but only in justice 
takes what is his right. If his employer is a rich man, 
the servant is justified in taking more compensation than 
if he were a poor man. In all these cases of conscience, 
the one who secretly pilfers is to be guided by circum- 
stances in the amount he takes. 

Question: " Is Anthony guilty of perjury if after 
committing murder, he swears that he did not commit itf ' 

Answer: "No, if he directs his intention while 
swearing to mean some other day on which he did not 
commit the murder." According to the theology of men- 
tal reservation a man may take ten thousand dollars 
from his neighbor, and not be guilty of theft, if he has 
the intent at the time of returning it. 

The "moral questions," or rather the immoral ques- 
tions, that are propounded in a book of instructions for 
priests in the confessional are of such a carnal, low^, 
sensual, devilish nature that I cannot publish here with- 
out exposing myself to be prosecuted for obscene litera- 
ture. They embrace all sovts of questions to be put to 
young married people in the confessional box, young 
girls and boys, and all manner of polluted sinners. Their 
thoughts are asked to be explained, their words and acts, 
the time of the commission, the place, the position, the 
accompanying circumstances, the pleasure experienced, 
resulting from the act. These sins that are asked in the 
confessional are of such an outlandish nature that even 
to mention one of them would not only make strong 
men ashamed of belonging to the human race, but would 
subject both author and printers to punishment in state 
prison. 

Scavani decides the following moral questions which 
makes it extremely easy for a priest to live in the dens of 
vice, and yet be a holy saint, for he can go to confession 
and get absolution, at least, twice from the same con- 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 131 

fessor; and going to fifty different confessors should mean 
one hundred pardons for as many weeks or months, as 
the case may be. The reader will have to excuse us 
putting the following in Latin for the public good: 

Q. — "^?^ aUquando jpossit absoloi concuhinarius^ qui 
conciibinmn ejicere e domo non protest sine scandalo avt 
mfamiaV 

A. — "Some with Sancius say yes, at least for the 
first or second time." 

Q. — "Is it lawful to take in illness intoxicating 
drink, when it is foreseen that drunkeness will follow?" 

A. — "It is most probable that it is, and why? Be- 
cause it is not the intention to wish drunkeness, but 
merely permit it." 

Q. — "Can animals be excommunicated?" 

A. — "Yes they can be excommunicated and anathe- 
matized, but this is to signify their destruction- and ex- 
pulsion, and not excommunication in the proper sense." 

Q. — "What is the thief bound to restore to the 
owner, if the goods stolen perish in the hands of the 
thief?" 

A. — "Nothing; if it is evident that they would have 
perished with the owner about the same time." 

Q. — "What restitution is the murderer bound to 
make?" 

A. — "All necessary expenses incurred by the family 
for medicines, &c. Also a part , of the income, ceasing 
from the death of the victim. One is, however, not 
bound to funeral expenses, as these would have to be in- 
curred some time, at least by the estate or heirs of the 
murdered man." 

Q. — "Ad quid tenetur adulter?" 

A, — "If doubtful that the offspring is the result 
ex adidterio^ the adulterer is bound to no restitution, 
because it is to be considered legitimate offspring until 
the contrary can be proven." 

Q. — "An adulteri^ stupratores, fovnicarii divites 



132 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

(rich) are bound to meet the expenses of such offspring, 
sent to the hospitals?" 

A. — "Many more probably deny, because hospitals 
of this character are established indiscriminately for all 
infants who are sent there by parents, whether they be 
rich or poor." 

(If this doctrine is not encouraging sin it has no 
meaning.) 

Q. — ''''Ad quid tenet'UT stuj^rator, qui puellam 
dejlovavrrit consenting^ sed absque ulla matrimonii 
proinissionef^ 

A. — ''He is bound to make no restitution to the 
young lady, because there is no injury done to any one 
willing and consenting." 

Q. — "Is the state of celibacy better than the mar- 
ried state?" 

A. — "It is. Tridentinum. "If any one says that 
the married state is better than the state of celibacy, or 
virginity, or that it is not better to remain in celibacy 
than in matrimony, let him be accursed." Sess. 24, 
Canon 10." Celibacy begets adultery and fornication, 
especially when involuntary, and yet theology puts it 
above the holy state of matrimony. 

Q. — "What circumstances excuse from theft?" 

A. — "First, necessity that is extreme poverty en- 
dangering life. In such a state a person may steal what 
is necessary. Necessitas non habet legeon (necessity has 
no law.) Second, compensation, that is the appropriating 
of another person's property secretly to make up for over 
work rendered, or to gain a debt that otherwise cannot 
be obtained by ordinary process of law?" 

Q. — "Ought the circumstance that the thief is a son, 
stealing from the father be explained?" 

A. — "Not necessarily, for that fact is not against 
the virtue of piety, reverence or love due to a father." 

Q. — "Is it lawful to set a person drunk to prevent 
him committing a greater sin?" 

A. — "Yes, it is lawful to permit evil, because it is 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains . 133 

lawful to induce a person to a less evil that he may be 
impeded from a greater. For in this instance evil is not 
counselled, but good by the election of a lesser evil." 

Q.— "What is solicitation?" 

A. — "It sinning by means of the confessional. 
When the confessor works on the knowledge of a female 
penitent, and by that means takes advantage of her, and 
accomplishes her ruin at confession, or immediately after; 
or by pretext of confession long after." 

Such are a few samples of Rome's standard 
theology. How can any young men or women be in- 
cHned to purity, holiness and honesty, after being guided 
and taught by so diabolical principles? If evil com- 
munications corrupt good morals, surely evil doctrines 
and practices lead their followers to the lowest immoral 
walks of life. This teachino^ is undoubtedly an indica- 
»tion of the presence of anti-Christ, **Let no man de- 
ceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, ex- 
cept there come a falling away first, and that man of sin 
be revealed, the son of perdition." (2 Thess. 2:3.) 



134 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Indulgence. 

Indulgence in the Roman Catholic church signifies a 
remission of temporal punishment due to sins, after they 
are confessed, and pardoned by the priest in the 
confessional. 

It may be granted by the pope to the whole church, 
or to bishops, priests or monks, and by them in turn, to 
the laity on the performance of some penance, saying 
certain prayers or visiting certain holy wells, shrines and 
chapels. The source of indulgence is called the "treas- 
ury of the church," into which is supposed to be gath- 
ered the merits and good works of all holy Catholic 
saints, who did more good, while living here, than was 
necessary for the salvation of their souls. Hence the. 
overplus sanctity is carefully locked up by the sovereign 
pontiff, who holds the keys, and may open and give out, 
when and to whom he pleases. As salvation in this 
Romish system is always by "works," and not by "faith," 
there is, constantly, standing an account of profit and 
loss, the profit sheet often extending far beyond the loss, 
so that the holy father may distribute according to his 
infinite (?) wisdom, grace and blessings to the needy and 
the poor, and to all, who have a slim account of holy 
living. If Peter lived a better life than Paul; some of the 
merits of Peter's fastings, confessions, going to mass, 
abstaining from meat on fish days, counting the beads 
several times a day, and paying three visits to some 
church building, where the Virgin Mary appeared to sev- 
eral worshippers, repeating the Pater Nosters and Ave 
Marias, are transferred to Paul's account, to balance the 
spiritual affairs. 

The doctrine sounds euphonious in theory, if it were 
not diametrically opposed to the gospel of salvation, full 
and free by grace. If there is one fact more evident 
than another in holy scripture, it is the fact that no 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 135 

man can merit anything for himself before God. JSIo one 
can make God a debtor. He can never purchase salva- 
tion by money, by eating or drinking, or fasting, or 
whatever he may do. Since man i^ unable to merit any- 
thing for himself, certainly it must be conceded that 
never can he pay any debts to God for his fellow-men. 
AH human works are finite, imperfect, and would remain 
so, if continued to eternity. It requires an infinite work 
to reach God, and atone for one sin. The infinite sacri- 
fice of the everlasting Son of God is only able to acccfm- 
plish that. But all we could do to atone for sin, for all 
time to come would, individually, or in the aggregate, 
remain finite. 

The efiect of this doctrine of papal indulgence has 
been destructive of spiritual life to that church. It 
begets moral indolence, and a disposition to remove per- 
sonal obligations to the shoulders of others. It invites 
spiritual shipwreck. It generates false ideas of honesty, 
truthfulness and justice. It inclines the heart to false 
pretense and disloyalty. It teaches that the end justifies 
the means, and that highway robbery, persecution and 
even murder are permissible as long as it is deemed 
favorable to the interests of the church. 

Pope Leo the Tenth, in A. D. 1510, needing money 
to complete St. Peter's at Rome, resorted to this novel 
method of getting wool from his sheep, to pay for the 
material. To this time and place may be traced the 
origin of this preposterous doctrine — to give out from 
the fisherman's "treasury" grace in exchange for gold 
and silver. I refer the reader, for a detailed account, to 
church history and approved cyclopedias. At that time 
the pope sent his agents to preach the gospel of indul- 
gences to "every creature," selling them to the highest 
bidder, and promising them to have the virtue to forgive 
even sins not yet committed. The agents carried the 
papal red cross through the streets of the cities, crying 
that it had as much efiScacy to pardon and save as the 
cross of Christ. 



136 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

The first great man to protest against these abuses 
was Martin Luther. He raised his voice against the 
blasphemies of the pope's monks at a time to denounce 
the pontiff and his church meant arrest, imprisonment 
and death. 

As a result of the doctrine of indulgence the follow- 
ing principles were established by infallible authority, 
and are therefore immutable; no one can change them: 
"Roman Catholics who, under the banner of the cross, 
shall set about the extermination of heretics, shall enjoy 
the full remission of the temporal punishment due to 
their sins, as much as those who go to the holy land." 
Again, ^ 'Those are not to be accounted murderers, or 
homicides, who, when burning with love and zeal for 
holy mother, the church, against excommunicated per- 
sons, shall happen to kill any of them." — (Canon law, 
causa 22, chap. 47.) To the thug, desperado and hard- 
ened sinner, this immoral doctrine holds out a hope of 
pardon of both the sin and its ''punishment," in the 
church. It teaches them, whether intended or not by 
his holiness, that in the name of, and for the interests of 
the church, cruel murders are justifiable. It is not sur- 
prising that it blighted the moral growth of nations. It 
annihilates the love of truth and encourages man to 
be deceitful. It makes the first last, and the last first, 
in the Romish meaning of the sentence. It made the 
first and holiest men of the country the last in good 
works; while it counted the sinners without faith or fruit, 
but with abundance of indulgence, a "holy priesthood," 
a "chosen people." It inverts the order and nature of 
grace. It discourages virtue, and puts a premium on 
vice. It deprives the heart of a reverential fear of God, 
and petrifies the soul to the influence of the Holy 
Spirit. Pride, selfishness and self -righteousness possess 
the man who learns to believe that he can save himself 
by human energy and worldly lucre. 

He who denies the doctrine of indulgence is pro- 
nounced accursed. The council of Trent declares: "Let 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 137 

him be anathematized and condemned who shall say that 
indulgences are useless, and that the church has no 
power to grant them." — (Session 25.) The true church 
of Jesus Christ has a spiritual treasury which is the gos- 
pel. It remits sin to them who receiv^e it, and retains 
sin to them who reject it. He w^ho holds the keys to 
this treasury is Christ Jesus, the Redeemer and Saviour 
of men. To those who seek it He dispenses this spiritual 
w^ealth without price: '' Whosoever will let him take the 
water of life freely."— (Rev. 22:17.) 

In this "whosoever" is included young and old, rich 
and poor — everybody, whether initiated or not; whether 
baptized or not. "Come unto me all ye who are heavy 
laden, and I will give thee rest." "Him that cometh to 
me I will in no wise cast out." — (John 6:37.) 

The following is a definition of indulgence by the 
Jesuit, Rev. F. A. Maurel, an approved authority on 
Romish doctrine: "An indulgence means simply a 
remission of as much temporal punishment as would 
have been atoned for by a canonical penance of so 
many days and years. How much that would be is 
known only to God." 

This definition makes the whole plan as clear as 
mud. It is poor comfort to a man going to purgatory, 
after "doing penance," and "gaining an indulgence," to 
be told he may burn in prison for ages, whose limit is 
known only to God. 

The temporal punishment due sin is easily wiped 
out, as the following meritorious works show: "To all 
who make, truly penitent, the sign of the cross, saying 
each time: In the name of the Father, Son and Holy 
Ghost." An indulgence of 50 days. 

''A plenary indulgence once a year to all who daily 
repeat the third part of therosaiy." — (Pope Pius, decree 
May 12, 1851.) 

"A plenary indulgence on the last Sunday of every 
month to those who visit a church and pray for the 
intention of his holiness, the pope." — (Pope Pius the 



138 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

Ninth.) By the way, what is the intention of the pope? 
Why should we pray for the intention of any man whose 
motive we don't know? His intention might possibly be 
to massacre an entire nation of heretics. 

"Three hundred days indulgence for every Hail 
Mary offered up for the conversion of England to the 
Koman Catholic church. Add, Mary help of Christians, 
pray for us." 

"One hundred days indulgence granted to those 
who do any good work for the conversion of those who 
are separated from the Catholic church." 

"One hundred days indulgence to all who visit the 
mission cross."— (Pope Leo the Twelfth.) 

"One year's indulgence to those who say, Blessed 
be the Great mother of God, blessed be her holy and 
immaculate conception. Blessed be the name of Mary, 
virgin and mother." — (ib.) 

"Four hundred days indulgence to the members of 
St. Joseph's union, New York, who shall say every day: 
"Oh most holy and immaculate mother of God, and 
glorious St. Joseph, guardians and patrons of our house 
and union, intercede for us, your children, now and at 
the hour of our death, amen." — Pope Leo, Thirteenth, 
Feb. 27, 1883.) 

The "Homeless Child," the organ of St. Joseph's 
union, says: "Having paid 25 cents, the annual sub- 
scription to the 'Homeless Child,' the member is entitled 
to the indulgences of five masses, that are said every 
week, 307 monthly masses and novenas and 4,565 masses 
said yearly by poor bishops and poor priests in different 
parts of the world. The member may obtain the 
benefit of these masses, not only for himself, but for his 
friends living and dead; the only change he has to make 
is to put the name of the deceased person on the certifi- 
cate." Then it adds: "Last year's certificate is of no 



use." 



This is surely a slip-shod way of going to heaven. 
If the mass is what Romish doctrine says ; the very same 



Fifteen Years Behma the Curtains. 139 

sacrifice as that of Christ on Calvary, it would be infinite, 
for Christ's sacrifice was infinite in its merits. The 
priest's sacrifice of the mass would be the same, and, 
therefore, would be all powerful to save and cleanse from 
every sin, not only the members of St. Joseph's union, 
but all the sons of men born into the world, from 
Adam down. 

Besides, if the mass is such a source of indulgence, 
why not ofier it up freely without the 25 cents? Why 
not imitate the Divine Saviour if it is the same sacrifice? 
Is it not worse than mockery to Christ's atonement, 
which is complete, and was made "once for all" for the 
redemption of the world? It is free. Should not the 
sacrifice of the mass be free? But the real end of this 
mass swindle is not to redeem souls, but to procure sub- 
scriptions to a worthless sheet, and build a temporal 
society called a church on these unholy methods. 

According to this doctrine the man who has not 25 
cents cannot become a member of "St. Joseph's union," 
and he who is not a member of the union will not enjoy 
the benefit of the masses, receives not the indulgence for 
neither the living nor the dead. What then? WeU, of 
course, the dead may remain in purgatory until doom's 
day. No money, no masses; and no masses, no indul- 
gence; and no indulgence, no redemption. This is about 
the syllogistic way the Roman logic of salvation runs. 
The whole thing is a sham and trap. It is a net to 
gather into the priests' coffers the "quarters" of the 
people. It is collecting money under false pretense. It 
is making salvation purchasable by indulgence and self- 
righteous works instead of by grace. "For by grace are 
ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the 
gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast." 
— (Eph. 2:8-9.) And Paul in his epistle to Titus says: 
"Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, 
but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the washing 
of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost." — 
(Titus 3:5.) 



140 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

In some of the churches in Rome are altars on 
which masses are said for the dead with an indulgence 
attached, which is declared to free the soul for 29,000 
years. Indulgences are given for kissing a wooden 
cross three times, and saying: ^'I adore thee, O holy 
cross of Christ!" There are two crosses at Rome, which 
have the virtue of 600 days' remission for all those who 
may think it worth while to spend a moment to bend the 
knee thereto. 

For ascending the white marble steps at St. John's 
Lateran church in the holy city nine years indulgence is 
granted for each step, and as there are 28 steps on the 
stairs, the sum of the indulgence, 28 multiplied by 9, 
equals 252 years. Who would not go to St. John's holy 
Roman church and gather in these heavenly pearls, the 
work of only a few minutes? 

To sum up the result of indulgence, it is plain to 
see that immorality is the spontaneous outgrowth. Per- 
mission to commit sin, whether ttie pope "intends" it or 
not, is practically the efiect. The monster of iniquity 
who may see through his bloody tragedies the merciful 
existence of a "treasury" of papal remission of crime, is 
the same as if he already enjoyed the right to perpetrate 
his wicked deed. It is more than permission to do evil, 
ior it is really holding out to the evil-doer an encourage- 
ment, by wielding an unrighteous influence over the 
heart which predisposes the sinner to employ unlawful 
means to procure what he believes to be a lawful end. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 141 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Scapulars, Candles, Holy Water and Vestments. 

The Virgin Mary must have worn a brown dress for 
the church of Rome recommends the scapular to be made 
of brown cloth in imitation of the Virgin Mary's attire. 

The scapular is made of two pieces of cloth with the 
Virgin's picture in the center and worn over the shoul- 
ders in suspender form. One has to be invested by the 
priest in order to be initiated into her habit. After that 
the wearer can make a scapular and invest himself. The 
priest performs the first ceremony by saying a prayer to 
the Virgin, sprinkling the habit and placing it over the 
recipient. There is much faith attached to the merits. 
The Romish belief is that the persons who wear this 
piece of cloth will be warned three days previous to their 
death of their dissolution. If the wearers should be com- 
mitted to purgatory the Virgin is to visit them the first 
Saturday after death and liberate their soals. The most 
wonderful miracles have been attributed to this brown 
habit; vipers have been banished. The gates of hell have 
been closed, and heaven has been opened to its super- 
natural power. It has calmed the tempest on the high 
seas, and when thrown over the davits of a ship sinking, 
rescued her from the storm, and brought the hopeless 
passengers safe ashore. It has banished evil spirits from 
men and women, cured diseases, converted sinners, 
averted wars and famines. It has caused rain to come 
down from the heavens to moisten the parched earth and 
bring fertility to the soil. It has saved boys and girls 
from fire and hot water, and young and old from light- 
ning, plagues and witches. It has made the devil trem- 
ble, and often cry out thus: "Woe to us by reason of the 
sacred scapular of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount 
Carmel." I refer the reader to numerous alleged 
miracles, wrought by the scapular in a book entitled, 
<'Month of Mary." For lying wonders and blasphemous 



142 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

epithets, as are there recorded, the pages of Don 
Quixote and Thomas Paine are no where. Let us here 
give verhatum one of the ordinary prayers offered to 
Mary: ''O immaculate queen of heaven and of angels! I 
adore you. It is you who have delivered me from the 
flames of hell. It is you to whom I look for all my 
salvation." 

The scapular was founded by Simon Stock, a Car- 
melite Friar in England in 1251. The Virgin is said to 
have appeared to feimon and revealed to him this heaven- 
ly worship. For more information on these supersti- 
tions the reader is referred to the "Glories of Mary." 

In a Roman Catholic church in Milan, on the altar 
stands a ladder, representing the ladder of the Virgin 
Mary; those who ascended to heaven by Mary's ladder, 
are all saved, because she is said to give them a helping 
hand; while those who ascended by Christ's ladder which 
ran parallel, fell back for the want of assistance. 

What greater blasphemy against the Lord Jesus 
Christ can be conceived? What greater insult can be 
offered the merits of Christ's atonement? The Romish 
church invites the sinner to come to Mary. Jesus invites 
him come to himself: ''Come unto me all ye that labor 
and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." 

"The scapular is worshipped as much as the Virgin 
is, and both are more adored thai Jesus himself. To the 
scapular are instituted and established by the church 
festivals and days of great indulgence. To Mary are 
dedicated more novenas and holy days than to the Re- 
deemer of men. Christ and his redemption are cast in 
the shade by Mary, the scapular and beads. The bead 
is a powerful piece of wood, bone or glass, in filling the 
treasury of the church with prayer in quantity which 
makes compound interest in being again granted to the 
faithful by the holy father, the pope. As far as quantity 
is concerned Mary gets at least in the beads ten times as 
much worship, as God, for the bead counter repeats One 
Maria ten times, while he says one Pater Noster. (That 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 143 

is, he says ten Hail Mary'^s for one Our Father Who Art 
in Heaven ) 

The priest finds scapulars, candles, beads, &c., a 
fruitful source of revenue and carries on a real traffic in 
these alleged holy things. The nuns generally make the 
scapulars free for the priests, who sell them to the peo- 
ple for whatever they offer them. None ever give less 
than a quarter of a dollar a pair for either scapular or 
beads. 

Candles are kept burning on the altar during mass 
and other solemn occasions in the church of Rome. They 
are not used to give light, but give joy, honor and glory 
to the consecrated host, which is honored and adored as 
the Lord of heaven and earth. 

Like most of Rome's customs and ceremonies, they 
are of Pagan origin. The Chinese light lamps, candles 
and tapers to their numerous idols. The Babylonians 
were accustomed to light lamps before their idols. The 
Pagans of ancient Rome had tapers burning before their 
idols. The Chinese to-day have their blessed candles 
and incense sticks burning before their idols and images. 

The blessed candles are a rich source of revenue to 
the priests. They are generally treasurers, clerks and 
managers of all financial negotiations. The priest 
usually takes up a collection once a year in the church to 
meet expenses of the lights on the altar. In keeping his 
books he puts down for expenses of the altar just what 
he desires to put into his own pocket without attracting 
the attention of Catholics "weak in the Romish faith." 
On Candlemas Day the people present more candles for 
the altar gratis than are needed for the year. The poor- 
est woman on that day brings a pound of wax candles to 
the priest to be blessed. She takes one home, and leaves 
the balance for the church. I have known priests to re- 
ceive so many candles in this way that they carried on 
simony by selling the expensive wax offerings of the peo- 
ple and supplying the altar with cheap tallow candles, 
except two waxen, one on each side of the tabernacle. 



144 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

Besides all this overplus of lights, and their illegitimate 
sale the priest expands his conscience to the extent of 
ordering once a year a "special collection for the ex- 
pense of the 'holy altar.'" 

Holy water, blessed by the priest, and mixed with 
salt, is sprinkled over people before mass. It is usually 
found at church doors in little basins from which wor- 
shippers sprinkle themselves, bow the head and bend the 
knee. Roman Catholics put great faith in holy water. 
They carry it home in little bottles, and believe that it 
keeps away evil spirits from houses. They sprinkle it 
on beds, stoves, furniture, cats, dogs, cattle, horses, goats 
and sheep. I have known it to be used as an infallible 
remedy to break young colts to the road and compel 
them to take the bit. I have seen it sprinkled over cows 
bought from Protestants in order to make them holy and 
good milkers. I have seen it applied to kicking cattle to 
make them refrain from upsetting the pail; and in one 
instance where a woman made the grave mistake of 
pouring on vitriol, the cow became unmanageable, spilt 
the milk, broke loose, and ran away. As the animal was 
purchased from a Protestant the poor credulous woman 
attributed the pranks to satan, and cried after her: 
"Isn't the devil strong in her yet?" 

When a Roman Catholic becomes sick he has more 
confidence in holy water than in medicine. He has 
confidence in its ability to expel evil from the soul and 
contagion from the body. In fact with the masses of 
Catholics holy water effects everything. It gives 
youth to old men, removes barreness from women, gives 
strength in temptation. Like candles and the scapular, 
holy water is a Pagan custom, they having used it at the 
entrance to their temples to purify and expel whatever 
might injure them. 

Every vestment the priest uses while saying mass 

and performing other priestly functions is used by the 

Pagan priests while offering sacrifice to their idols. The 

"Umice^ alb^ stole ^ ckausable^ cap^ wtanijple^ robes, etc., all 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 145 

may be seen on a Josh priest in China, making his sacri- 
fice to the gods. 

One of the greatest insults that can be offered to 
Jesus Christ and his atonement is to make a mockery of 
his divine sacrifice by assuming to repeat the same and 
dress in royal .robes to represent the meek and lowly 
Saviour who made one offering once for all. "But this 
man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever 
sat down on the right hand of God." (Heb. 10:12.) 



1^6 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Jesuits. 

The Jesuits were organized in 1533 by a Spanish 
knight, Don Inigo Lopez de Ricaldo, who was a daring 
soldier, served in the field and was severely wounded in 
the siege of Pampeluna. He ardently desired to form in 
the Romish church a bold society of priests, after the 
model of a victorious army, with inflexible spirits of real 
Don Quixotes. 

This army of Christian soldiers were to have for its 
first and chief aim defense of the Roman Catholic chnroh, 
extirpation of heretics and implicit obedience to the 
pope of Rome. They were to undo what Luther, Calvin, 
King Henry the Eighth and other reformers did. In a 
word, they set out with the resolve of ofisetting the 
efiects of the Protestant Reformation and reinstating 
Romanism on its former throne. 

They advocated the use not of spiritual arms to 
propagate their religion, but carnal ones, physical soldiers, 
physical forces, the arm of the state, fire, sword, money, 
lands and everything that was calculated to keep the 
bark afloat. The true arms of the spiritual man for 
Christian warfare, namely, the word of God, faith, 
prayer, love, hope and trust in God, were discounted. 

In 1539 Pope Paul the Third sanctioned this 
society, and authorized it to go into the world to fight its 
battles for Rome under the name of the "Society of 
Jesus," with permission to condense into the initials "S. 
J." which, to this day, every Jesuit attaches to his given 
name. The oath which every Jesuit is obliged to take 
at ordination, and observe in secrecy, is as follows: 

"I, , now in the presence of Almighty God, 

the Blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed Michael the Arch- 
angel, the blessed St. John the Baptist, the holy Apostles, 
St. Peter and St. Paul, and all the saints, I do declare 
openly with all my heart without mental reservation, 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 147 

that the pope is the vicar of Christ on earth, and at the 
head of the universal church, and by virtue of the keys 
of binding and losing, given him by Jesus Christ, he hath 
power to depose heretical kings, princes, states and gov- 
ernments. Therefore, to the utmost of my powder, his 
rights, doctrines and customs against all usurpers and 
protestant authority whatsoever; especially against the 
church of England and all its adherents in every country 
into which I may come. I do renounce and disown 
every allegiance to any heretical king, prince or state 
called Protestant, or obedience to any of their inferior 
magistrates. I do further declare the doctrines of the 
church of England, of the Calvinists, Huguenots and all 
other Protestants, to be damnable, and those to be 
damned who do not forsake them. 

"I do further declare that I will help, assist and 
advise all, or any of the pope's representatives, in any 
place wherever I may be, and to do my utmost to extir- 
pate the heretical Protestant doctrine and to destroy all 
their pretended power, regal or otherwise. I do further 
promise and declare that notwithstanding I am dispensed 
with to assume any religion heretical for the propoga- 
tion of the mother church's interest, to keep secret and 
private all her counsels, as they are intrusted me, and not 
to divulge directly, or indirectly, by word, writing, or 
circumstance whatsoever, but to execute all which shall 
be proposed, given in charge, or discovered unto me. 

All which I, , do swear by the Holy Trinity and 

Holy Eucharist which I am about to receive, to perform 
on my part, to keep inviolably, and do call on all the 
heavenly host to witness my true intention to keep my 
oath. In testimony whereof I witr ess the same with my 
hand and seal in the presence of this holy covenant, so 
help me God." 

The oath of the Jesuits, as is evident, absorbs all their 
individuality and character. Their vow of obedience 
and submission to the pope, takes away their manhood 



148 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

and renders them passive tools in the hands of an 
ultramon t anism . 

The education of the Jesuit is different from that of 
most priests. He is obliged to comply with moral (?) 
rules that melt away his moral energy. The novice must 
have no will of his own other than that of the general 
superior, and the latter must know none other than that 
of the sovereign pontiff. He is to ask permission of the 
superior to eat, drink, sleep, rise, walk, read, write, pray, 
exercise, and even comply with the demands of nature. 
He is dead to himself. He must not walk too slowly, or 
too quickly. He must not look a person speaking to him 
straight in the face, but a little below, and past the face. 
Hence his look, when speaking to you, resembles the 
individual himself, if such he may be called, it is vacant 
and far away. A Jesuit to be true to his profession 
cannot look you straightforward in the eye. When 
speaking to a woman a Jesuit looks at her at an angle of 
forty-five degrees, or, in other words, he looks so many 
feet beyond her. There are several reasons laid down 
why he should observe these uncivilized rules, but the 
principal one is founded on the proposition that "tow 
brought close to the fire causes a blaze." 

The aim of the Jesuit order is the climax of subter- 
fuge, deception, hypocrisy and immorality. 

Their rules of order and general directions advise 
them to settle in opulent towns and metropolitan cities,, 
and endeavor first to win the influence of the representa- 
tive citizens — the representatives of wealth, knowledge 
and religion, on the grounds that the influence of the 
balance of the community is not worth seeking "Go 
for the cream of society" is the password all the time; 
"never mind the dregs." This is the chief reason why 
Jesuits obtain for the ministry a superior education to 
that of the secular priesthood. Among their aims is that 
to cause sedition among kings and dignitaries, to pur- 
chase large estates for the society under other fictitious 
names, so that they themselves may all the time appear 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 149 

the poor ones, the meek and the lowly wolves in sheep's 
clothing. 

They are advised by their secreta monita to encour- 
age rich widows to remain unmarried, and enter con- 
vents, so as to more easily obtain their money and their 
property for their order. 

They must not see too much, or notice immorali- 
ties, or sensual living in widows who make bequests to 
the "Society of Jesus." They must gain the females' 
affections, and be careful to change their confessors 
often; for example: Old widows must not all the time 
have old confessors, but be granted young men occasion- 
ally to stimulate them to greater zeal and loyalty to the 
church. Everything done, is to be done to advance the 
best and highest worldly interests of the society. In 
accomplishing this, the end justifies the means. Evil 
may be done that good may follow. A lie may be 
excused on sufficient and probable motives; and this suf- 
ficiency and probability must be decided on by the judg- 
ment of the Jesuits themselves. 

They may shorten the commandment, if seen, that 
it extends and exalts their creed and papal, temporal 
power. 

Their subjection and implicit obedience to the pope, 
makes him acquainted with the workings of society and 
governments in every country. The weakest spots in 
governments and nations are disclosed to the Roman 
pontiff by these Jesuit confessors, who draw from the 
secrecy of the confessional data for his holiness to work 
on. Hence, the Roman church with the aid of these 
curriers knows when and where to attack the weakest 
side of principalities and kingdoms. 

The pope could learn from the Jesuits who were his 
allies in every nation of the world. Kings, queens and 
princes who were ready to defend the papal power were 
known at the Vatican by means of the Jesuit current. 
Those who were hostile were similarly communicated. 
With the former the Jesuits have always been the 



150 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains » 

pillars of the state; but with the latter they have proved 
the quicksands and raging torrents which overthrew the 
government. 

It was this fealty to Rome that made them the 
political sneak thieves that they are, and the traitors to 
almost every government under which they lived. It 
was for this reason they became traitors to civil powers, 
and were expelled from all the civilized nations except a 
couple, as dangerous enemies to the national institutions. 

They were banished from Catholic France in 1762, 
and were charged with the enormous crimes of simony, 
blasphemy, sacrilege, magic, witchcraft, astrology, idola- 
try, superstition, immorality, lying, theft, parricide, 
homicide, suicide and regicide. 

We refer the reader to a book entitled, "Jesuits," 
by Paul Feval. The French parliament accused the 
Jesuits of "teaching people to live like beasts, and Chris- 
tians to live like Pagans. Nourishing concupiscence and 
leading to temptations and the grossest sins. Eluding 
the divine laws by false sales, simulated societies and 
other artifices and frauds. Palliating usury. Leading 
judges to prevaricate; troubling the peace of families; 
shaking the fidelity of domestics; opening the way to 
the violation of all laws, whether civil, ecclesiastical or 
apostolic. Making the life of man depend on vain 
reasonings and false systems. Excusing revenge and 
homicide. Stifling in parents and children all feelings 
of humanity. Opening the road to avarice and cruelty. 
Opposition to the decalogue. Protecting massacres; 
threatening magistrates and human society with certain 
laws contrary to the maxims of the gospel, Jesus Christ 
and the practices of the apostles. Seditions, contrary to 
natural law, to primitive law and the law of nations. 
Smoothing the way to fanaticism and horrible carnage. 
Disturbing the society of men; creating an ever-present 
danger to the life of kings. Doctrines whose poison is 
so fatal that they cannot be viewed without horror." 

They were expelled from England in 1604. They 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 151 

were banished from Venice in 1606. They were com- 
pelled to remove from Portugal in 1759. They were 
driven out of France in 1762, and from Spain and Sicily 
in 1767. It was not without cause these soldiers of 
Loyola were expelled from Protestant and Catholic coun- 
tries alike, and even by popes. Mexico and many of 
the South American republics have disowned them. 

Lord Palmerston said: "The presence of the Jesuits 
in any country. Catholic or Protestant, is likely to breed 
social disturbance." The French Abbe Arnold said: 
^'Do you wish to excite troubles, to provoke revolutions, 
to produce the total ruin of your country, call in the 
Jesuits." 

Their leading features have been murders, false- 
hood, perjury, taking away loyalty of subjects to their 
civil governments and giving it to the papal authorities. 

Pope Clement the Fourteenth in 1773 suppressed 
the order: "We declare all, and all kind of authority, 
the general, provincial, visitors and other superiors of 
the said society to be fore 7er annulled and extinguished. 
* * ^ ^ Qyj, ^lu j^jj(j pleasure is that these our let- 
ters should forever, and to all eternity, be valid, perma- 
nent and efficacious." 

Soon after issuiiig this order the pope met with a 
terrible death, the most violent perhaps that has ever 
been inflicted on mankind. The entire body turned 
black, the flesh fell from the bones, and he became so 
offensive that it was impossible to approach him. 

What is singular about the suppression of the 
Jesuits by a pope conceded to be infallible, and that sup- 
pression to be forever, according to the decree, is that it 
was revoked by another infallible pope. 

Pope Pius the Seventh, in 1814, annulled the decree 
of his predecessor and restored the order to all former 
rights and privileges. The former pope suppressed them 
forever; the latter pope restored them forever. If this 
: is a mark of infallibility, the Roman pontiff? surely 
possess it. 



152 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

The theology of the Jesuits became so disgusting 
and immoral, and they themselves so overbearing and 
self-righteous towards the civil powers that they were 
banished from the various nations at different times. 

Mr. Gladstone, one of the greatest Christian states- 
men now living, said in the English House of Commons 
on June 10th, 1876: "The presence of the Jesuits is a 
misdemeanor under the Roman Catholic Emancipation 
act." 

In 1880 France again expelled them on the grounds 
that the education imparted the youth by them was dan- 
gerous and full of peril to the state. The school books 
authorized by them commended the treatment of Galileo, 
Wycliffe and Bruno by the church. They favored the 
massacre of the Albigenses and the Hugucmots. They 
taught that France was defeated in the late Franco- 
Prussian war because she was falling away from the 
Roman Catholic church, neglecting the sacraments and 
deserting the pope in the hour of danger, and delivering 
him over to the power of Victor Emanuel, Garibaldi and 
robber kings. This bordered on sedition to teach such 
doctrines to the French. 

To the Jesuits' influence and that of their moral 
theology is invariably traced the murder of the 
Prince of Orange, the massacre in Portugal, murder of 
Coligny, that of Bartholomew's Day in France, the 
assassinations of Henry the Third and Henry the 
Fourth, the poisoning of Pope Clement the Fourteenth 
after their suppression, the attempted assassination of 
Queen Elizabeth. The gunpowder plot was of their con- 
coction; so was the Spanish Armada and all the secret 
murders of Roman Catholic societies, such as those of 
the Molly Maguires in the coal fields of Pennsylvania, of 
the Clan-na-Gael of Chicago, Fenians of Ireland and the 
Ribbon men at home and abroad. Why should their 
theology not beget thefts, murders and arson? Let us 
have, for instance, a few moral questions by way of 
illustration : 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 153 

"A person may direct his intention in such a way as 
not to lie when telling an untruth, or even swearing 
to it." 

"A man may swear in a court of justice that he did 
not commit a murder, if he inwardly intends that he did 
not commit it on a certain day, or on a day before he 
was born." 

That is, a man may commit murder on Monday, but 
may swear he did not commit it, if he directs his inten- 
tion to Sunday. A man may steal one thousand dollars 
and swear that he is as innocent as Moses of the theft, 
if he had only the "intention of just taking the money 
at the time, and afterwards of returning it." When the 
money is squandered, and nothing wherewith to be 
refunded the owner, there is no sin committed' by the 
Jesuit thief because he had not the "intention" of always 
retaining the stolen goods. This would even defeat 
Satan himself for moral training. No wonder the Catho- 
lics of Spain, Mexico, Italy, South America and 
France drove the Jesuits out from their territory as 
gophers in human form, undermining the state and its 
fundamental institutions. 

A person wearing sacred things, such as scapulars 
on the shoulders, agnus dels on the breast, and beads by 
the side, may leave off any or all of these when going to 
commit sin. Even a monk may leave off his holy garb 
when going to a house of ill-fame, so that his sin may be 
less grevious and the faithful less scandalized. However 
holy the Jesuits seem, their theology renders them 
criminals by its teaching and practice. It is so cunning 
and diabolical in its nature that it would cause Judas to 
blush, the Pharisees to learn what they never knew, 
and Satan himself would have to go to school to keep up 
with the times. 

The Jesuits' touch in every country in which they set 
foot has been blighting and demoralizing. They have 
blasted Spain, France, Italy and Mexico. Until they 
were banished from the latter country, it made no moral. 



154 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

intellectual or commercial progress. The civilized nations 
refused to send thither their ambassadors and consuls. 
Mexico's fields remained undeveloped. Her beautiful 
harbors and seaports were deserted of foreign y^ssels 
which refused to trade with her on account of the Jesuit 
rule in the interior. So with the other countries; they 
have fallen down the scale of civilization and material 
progress because of the Jesuits and their satanic doc- 
trines. Their missionary work, though extensive, was 
productive of no lasting or blessed results. While they 
spread like locusts over entire countries like Spain, 
Mexico and Japan, they undermined the principles of 
the gospel and sowed the seed of Komanism. They left 
in their track no permanent moral institutions, no schools 
of higher education, no bibles. They left not the word 
of God with the Japanese, though they claimed in that 
land over 300,000 followers. India, with their reported 
700,000 converts, remained buried in their heathen 
idolatry after the missions as much as before. Not one 
follower of Brahma did they convert to the religion of 
Christ. Not a Bible did they leave them. The same 
may be said of the Chinese. They left them as they 
found them, sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. 
The Chinese were not slow in detecting their political 
plottings, and soon expelled them from the Flowery 
Kingdom. In South America they set themselves up a& 
temporal lords, controlling millions of acres of land,, and 
millions of dollars, until Spain and Portugal petitioned 
the pope to expel them from the colonies, because they 
were amassing enormous wealth, impoverishing the 
dependencies and making themselves priests, prophets 
and kings at the same time. 

The United States is the only country that we know 
of in which these agents of the Roman pontiff reside 
unmolested. Their rules and constitution do not change. 
Their aim here is the same as it has been in Europe and 
South America. The disastrous and degrading results are 
similar, and are manifest to all who desire to see them. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 155 



CHAPTER XIX. 

The Church's Curse. 

In the Roman Catholic church excommunication 
means a cutting off of members from church privileges, 
social intercourse while living, and deprivation of Christ- 
ian burial vrhen dead. The offences which incur it are 
not those of blasphemy, theft, deception, drunkenness, 
highway robbery, not even murder. One may do any 
or all these things, and still be a ''good Roman Catholic," 
provided he does not deny the holy Romish faith. A 
denial of the Roman faith subjects the heretic to this 
excommunication of the church. Contracting marriage 
before a Protestant minister, participating in Protestant 
worship, disobeying priests and bishops, opposing papal 
legates, putting impediments in the way of episcopal 
statutes, and similar things, are the crimes w^hich incur 
the church's censure. 

Practically speaking, there are but two forms, the 
''major" and "minor" excommunications. It is nearly 
always the major that is inflicted. It virtually exiles 
the offender, as one to be avoided by all Roman Catholics 
the world over. Catholics who would associate with the 
excommunicated leave themselves liable to the same 
censure. Those who have little or no experience of the 
results of this interdict may look on it as an empty 
threat; but ask them who have received it, and they can 
tell you. In Romish Catholic countries, and in Catholic 
sections of Protestant climes, it falls on the heretic like 
a blasting boycott. Whatever his business or profession 
may be, in that locality, it is destroyed. His nearest 
friends and dearest relations, who loved him a few days 
before the church decreed against him, now turn the 
cold shoulder. Seas which were then smooth and of 
pleasant sailing, now exhibit the white foam and blue 
rage of storm. Old mother church is angry. She has 
sent forth her anathema. The people know it; and they 



156 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

know the victim, whether a public ceremony is performed 
over the offender or not. He violates holy mother 
church's doctrine — he denies her faith. That is enough. 
It is the crime of crimes. It is the unpardonable sin 
which cannot be forgiven in this world or in the world 
to come, if he repent not or return to receive the 
church's pardon. 

His business, once remunerative, is blighted. 
Roman Catholics will no longer trade with him. They 
are not culpable for this attitude. Their church forbid? it. 
If naked his nearest relatives are forbidden to clothe 
him. If hungry, they must not give him to eat. If 
dying on the highway of starvation they must not lend 
him aid, under pain of incurring a like penalty them- 
selves. 

The principle runs thus: "He who gives refuge to a 
heretic, is also guilty of heresy." Hence the offender's 
business is not only boycotted, but his person and his 
life. People will not buy or sell to him. Contracts 
made with him are pronounced, by the church, null and 
void. Faith is not kept with him on any condition 
whatever. His wife and family, if he has any, also fall 
under the ban. The excommunication is, therefore, of 
serious consequence to the man or woman who denies 
the Romish doctrine. 

In the centuries gone past, when the Romish church 
and state were united, the church used her two swords 
with Satanic vindictiveness. With the spiritual sword 
she interdicted and delivered over to the temporal power, 
which was her own left hand, to be cast into prison, to 
starve or to die, if the heresy were not renounced. Her 
spiritual sword was the more powerful. It cut right and 
left, and spared none who fell before it, from the beggar 
in his hut to the prince in his palace. To kill heresy it 
killed the heretic. 

This spiritual sword, whose sharpest point was ex- 
communication, was borrowed, like most of Rome's re- 
galia, from the Pagans, Jews and ancient Greeks. They, 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 157 

like the pope of Rome, were not merely satisfied with 
excluding members from their assemblies, but delivered 
their bodies to the furies to be tortured. The papal 
sword has been as cruel and treacherous as any ever 
wielded by Greek or barbarian, for it has shed more 
blood, caused more weeping, wailing, torture, burning 
and general destruction of life and property than ever 
that of the tyrant Nero. 

It has made Rome's subjects timid, insincere and 
superstitious. It put to death the bravest men and 
women, and retained in the churches the hypocrites, the 
idolators, the liars and perjurers, who couched low and 
refused to preach Avhat they knew to be the truth. 
They preferred to please their lord and master, the 
pope, and save their own necks, to giving expression 
to their inner conviction, and to God's truth. Honest 
men were hung up in chains, over a slow fire, until they 
breathed their last in painful agony, while immoral 
wretches, both priests, bishops and popes, stood on the 
altar, representing Jesus Christ, and claiming all power 
in heaven and earth to save and to destroy. When a 
priest or bishop may swear and lie, and justify his sin 
by personal self-righteousness, it is time to sound the 
alarm; society is in danger of being contaminated. 
Priests and bishops still imitate their predecessor, who 
was one time a member of the state parliament. He 
became angry and swore lustily. But when rebuked by 
another member, the prelate replied: "I swear as a 
prince, not as a bishop." "Yes," replied the other, "but 
what will become of the bihosp when satan comes for the 
prince." 

Let us see the form of excommunication in Roman 
countries, compared with that used in Protestant lands. 
Rome adapts her laws, to a great extent, to the environ- 
ment of public opinion in those countries. The form 
used in Roman Catholic countries : 

"By the authority of our Lord, the Father Almighty, 
the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Peter and St. Paul, and all 



158 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

the holy saints, we excommunicate, curse, ban, commit 

and deliver to the d — 1 of h — 1, N , who, in spite 

of God, Sts. Peter and Paul, and all the holy saints, and 
in spite of our holy father, the pope, God's vicar on 
earth, has apostatized to a most damnable religion of 
heresy. Accursed may he be in all cities, towns, fields, 
highways, yards, houses, and in all places, whether lying 
or rising; walking or running; leaning or standing; 
waking or sleeping; eating or drinking, or whatsoever 
else he does. 

^'We separate him from the holy Roman Catholic 
fold, and all the prayers of our holy mother, the church, 
from all participation of the sacrament, chapels, altars 
and sacred things. 

"We do, hereby, give him absolutely over to Satan, 
to quench his soul in hell, as this candle is now extin- 
guished by us. And we pray God, the Blessed Virgin 
Mary, Saints Peter and Paul, and all the saints, that his 
eyes may be put out, that as this candle is now put out; 
that the senses of his body may fail him, a&i the light of 
this candle fails it, unless he comes at once and con- 
fesses his damnable heresy, and do penance, as much as 
in him lies, make satisfaction to God, his Blessed Mother 
and the saints, and all the blessed company of holy 
mother church; and as this holy cross now falls down, 
so may he, unless he repent and return." 

"N , Bishop, Diocese 



"N , Chancellor, Diocese- 

ujuly , A. D., 18- 



?5 



The foregoing form is attended with solemn cere- 
mony of '^bell, book and candle," and is no longer prac- 
ticed, except in some dark corners of Romish provinces. 
Catholics would not tolerate such a ceremony to be pub- 
lished against them in the United States, hence the 
ceremony is more civilized in Uncle Sam's jurisdiction. 

Form of modern excommunication in the United 

States : 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 159 

"To the Rev. Clergy and the faithful laity of the 
Archdiocese of New York. 

"Be it known that it becomes our duty to declare to 
the clergy and laity of our charge, which we do by these 

letters, that the Rev. M is excommunicated, 

nominatim^ with all the penalties attached to this cen- 
sure by the church. 

"N , Archbishop, New York. 

"N , Sec'y, New York. 

"New York, July 8, 1887." 

In the preceding is found the usual forms of the 
most formidable of Rome's interdicts. We will take it 
for granted that every church or duly organized society 
enjoys the right to exclude from its membership un- 
worthy members w^ho refuse to conform to by-laws, and 
obey established discipline. Otherwise no organization 
of any sort could legitimately exist. But their right 
ought to end at their own threshold. They should have 
no power to pursue those dismissed, or even those who 
leave voluntarily, into another church or organization 
to blackmail, injure and persecute. But Rome has done 
this, and still continues to do so where she can. She 
pursues those who leave her, and draws the sword against 
them to wound and to kill. She goes first for the body, 
which she desires to reduce to poverty and ecclesiastical 
subjection. She next hounds the soul, which she pre- 
tends to be able to capture, bind with chains of anathe- 
mas, and finally deliver over to his satanic majesty to 
be tortured forever. She has arrested the body and 
severely punished it; but, so far, there is no proof that 
she ever succeeded in laying hold of the soul, which, 
doubtless, would have shared the same fate as its unfor- 
tunate tabernacle. But, no! The spirit's element is 
beyond her control. Rome must first prove her ability 
to seize the soul before she can torture it in hell. 

Every man who honestly believes that he can serve 
Christ better in one denomination than in another, and 
enjoy contentment of mind and peace of heart, should 



160 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

not only be permitted to go over to his chosen home, but 
ought to be encouraged by his church and pastor to take 
leave of their body and unite himself with God's people 
in another church. To try to prevent this step seems to 
be cruel and un-Christian, Even were he or she a per- 
sonal enemy, that is the more reason why the spirit of 
Christ should be manifested toward that person. The 
Divine Master emphasized love. ^'Love your enemies; 
do good to them that hate you; pray for them that per- 
secute you." "Love one another, and by this will the 
world know that you are my disciples." This is Christ's 
teaching: "To clothe the naked; give drink to the thirsty; 
harbor pilgrims; help the needy and poor. Bless, and 
curse not. And he that takes up the sword shall perish 
by the sword. Do unto others as you would have others 
do unto you." 

Let the reader take the forms of excommunication 
and place them opposite these principles of Jesus Christ, 
and then let him sincerely reflect and ask himself can 
such a church, as teaches these abominable doctrines, be 
of God? 

Form of interdict pronounced on those who at- 
tempt to persuade a nun to leave a convent: 

"By the authority of the Almighty God, Sts. Peter 
and St. Paul, and all the holy Apostles, we firmly, under 
pain of anathema, enjoin that no one carry ofi" these virgins 
or religious persons here present from divine service, to 
which, under the seal of chastity, they have been dedi- 
cated; that no one plunder their property, but that they 
enjoy it in undisputed quietude. If any one presume to 
attempt this, may he be cursed at home and abroad. In 
the field, city, state and nation. May he be cursed in 
watching, waiting and sleeping. Cursed may he be in 
eating and drinking, in rising, walking and sitting. 
Cursed let him be in his flesh, blood and bones, and from 
the sole of his feet to the crown of his head may he en- 
joy no health. May there come upon him the curse 
which God sent by Moses on the sons of perdition. May 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 161 

his name be blotted out from the book of the living, and 
never be rewarded with the righteous. May his portion 
be with Cain, the fratricide; with Dathan and Abiram, 
with Ananias and Saphira, with Simon Magus and 
Judas, the traitor; and with them who said to God: 
'Depart from us; we will not follow thy ways!' May 
everlasting fire devour him with the devil and his angels 
unless he do penance and amend his ways. So be it. 
Amen." 

Rome has always hurled her curse against heretics, 
and everything and every one that would teach any doc- 
trine other than that approved by his holiness. For a 
lucid understanding of her curse and what she deems 
heresy I would refer the reader to Roman Catholic 
standard theological class books, such as Kenrick's dog- 
matic, Scavani's and Gury's Moral Theology, and also 
Alphonus Liguori. For instance, here is what one of 
the standards says of the "Punishment of Heretics:" 

"There are various punishments with which ecclesi- 
astical customs and imperial laws order heretics to be 
punished. Some are spiritual, and affect the soul only; 
others are corporal, and affect the body. We will speak 
of each in its order, and first of corporal punishment 
and afterwards of spiritual. Among corporal punish- 
ments one which very much annoys heretics is the pro- 
scription and confiscation of their property 

Another punishment of heretics is the deprival of every 
sort of pre-eminence, jurisdiction and government which 
they previously exercised over persons of every condition. 
For he who is a heretic is, ipso jure, deprived of all such 
offices,for a heretic cannot govern the faithful. . . . . 
The last punishment of the body for heretics is death, 
with which we will prove, with God's assistance, heretics 

ought to be punished It, therefore, follows, 

in order to create a barrier of so great a crime, and to 
produce in others a detestation of it, that it is just to 
inflict the punishment of death on any incorrigible 
heretic." 



162 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains^ 

"But there is no greater sin than that of heresy, and 
hence there is no crime the hatred of which is more to 
be impressed on Christians. Whence it follows that 
there is no crime for which one may be more justly put 
to death than for obstinate and incurable heresy. If 
Martin Luther, when he first began to pour out his 
poison, and after being lawfully admonished would not 
repent, had been capitally punished, as he deserved, his 
followers would have been terrified, and there would not 
have burst forth so many and so great heresies. But, 
alas! Germany endures now. But because Luther es- 
caped, Occalampadius, Zwingle, Carlstadt and the Ana- 
baptists, the worst of all heretics, dared to go abroad in 
public and vent their heresies. From which words it is 
plain that burning heretics is not a novel invention, but 
is the ancient opinion of the wisest Christians." 



♦ 



1 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 163 

CHAPTER XX. 
Inquisition. 

By reason of its ultramontane and infallible (?) 
teaching, Koman Catholicism is obliged to condemn 
Protestant doctrine as heresy, and its followers as 
heretics. For this reason she has so long persecuted 
those who have protested against her dogmas. Those 
who preached a doctrine other than Rome's, in countries 
where her creed is in the ascendency, are treated with 
scorn, and often bodily violence. It is so in several 
parts of Ireland, where Protestant missionaries are hoot- 
ed, egged and stoned. It is so in Mexico, where minis- 
ters of the gospel of Christ have been imprisoned and 
subjected to disgraceful punishment. It is still so in 
Spain, where Protestant ministers have been mobbed for 
circulating Bibles and tracts among the people. Why 
are evangelists and Protestant missionaries not molested 
in this country? Simply because the Romish party are 
in the minority. 

Suppose we turn the tables, and ask our Roman 
Catholic friends here how they would feel, provided 
evangelical Christians and all non -Catholics in the 
United States would treat Roman Catholic priests, 
bishops and people with barbarity, similar to that meted 
out to their brothers in Romish lands? What would be 
the cry for holy vengeance on these heretics ! 

Protestant Christians do not persecute, because 
they are led by the spirit of Christ. Even when put on 
the defense, they discountenance violence. The word of 
God dwells in the heart of those who believe on the 
Saviour, and teaches them to bear and suffer injuries for 
the sake of their Divine Master. " Blessed are ye, when 
men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say 
all manner of evil things against you falsely for my 
sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your 
reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets 
which were before you." — (Matt. 5:11.) 



164 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

The most shocking mode of punishing which unbe- 
lievers in Romanism suffered has been the '* holy office "^ 
of Inquisition. History blushes to record the deeds. 
Catholic historians try to modify its horrors by attribu- 
ting its existence to the secular powers . But by saying 
the state executed heretics in view of relieving the 
church of blame, is like *^ jumping from the frying pan 
into the lire," for in those days the state was Catholic, 
and submissive to the Roman pontiffs. The pope had 
only to proclaim, and it was done. He had only to say 
to the secular arm, " Halt ! " and the torturing of bodies 
ceased. But some of the best Roman Catholic histori- 
ans concede that the Inquisition was established by papal 
authority, and the punishment of non-believers conceived 
and proclaimed by ecclesiastical wisdom. Everybody 
who knows canon law, understands that the spiritual 
power of the pope was acknowledged by Catholic, secu- 
lar powers to be above all civil laws and secular institu- 
tions. The Roman church, therefore, did approve of the 
Inquisition and its punishment, because she ordered not 
the sword to be put up into the scabbard ; because she 
commanded the secular princes to establish Inquisitions^ 
in their respective jurisdictions, and agreed to furnish 
them theologians to declare to them what was heresy, 
and what not; because she declared that they who refused 
to inform against those suspected of heresy, were guilty 
themselves of the crime, and should be tried accordingly. 
It must, however, be conceded that not all the ecclesiati- 
cal authorities of Rome sactioned the shedding of blood. 
There were always a few good men to stand up for truth 
and liberty of conscience, but they did so at a forfeiture 
of loss of property, and often life. As before remarked,, 
the Catholic state had to execute the wish and command 
of the Roman pontiff. By previous treaties and concor- 
dats, it was pledged to unquestionable obedience to the 
church. 

Let us see what the popes have done in the interest 
of the Inquisition. Pope Innocent, the Third, sent his 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 165 

papal delegates to command the bishops of Provence 
and Narbonne to inaugurate a war of extermination 
against the Albigenses, for the sole crime of being 
heretics. The fourth council of Lateran, in A. D. 1215, 
ordered bishops to see that tribunals and courts be es- 
tablished in their dioceses, and that heretics be brought 
thither, tried and punished for their belief. A short time 
after, the council of Tolouse confirmed the acts of this 
council, and decreed as follows : *'Any prince, lord, 
bishop, or judge who favors heretics, shall forfeit his 
lands, property, or office; and every house in which a 
heretic is found shall be destroyed. Heretics, or per- 
sons suspected of heresy shall not be allowed the assist- 
ance of a physican or any of their associates in crime, 
even though they be suffering under a mortal disease. 
Since penitents shall be removed from the neighborhood 
in which they reside, if it is suspected of heresy, they 
shall wear a peculiar dress and forfeit all public privi- 
leges, until they receive the papal dispensation. Peni- 
tents, who have recanted through fear, shall be placed in 
confinement." The secular power had no alternative, 
other than put to death him who was pronounced by the 
church guilty of heresy. The church was the principal; 
the state the agent. The pope was commander-in-chief; 
the state a royal officer. The dual force became a power 
in the land. Its officers, chaplains. Inquisitors, doctors, 
sentinels, soldiers, priests, friars and bishops were multi- 
tudinous for number. On the fat of the land lived the 
officials of the " Holy Office," and the " Sacred Tribu- 
nals," for into their coffers were gathered the gold and 
silver and property of the victims who met a cruel death, 
as we shall see. 

After the sentence of the Inquisitors, those found 
guilty were led out to the plaza in sheepskin sacks; and 
those condemned to the fire had a choice to recant, and 
go back to prison to do penance, and suffer, or go out- 
side the city to the fire to be roasted alive. 

The Eev. Dr. Alex. Geddes, a Roman Catholic 



166 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

divine who witnessed, at the time, many of the horrors^ 
says: " If the prisoner on being asked, says he will die 
in the Catholic faith, he has the privilege of being stran- 
gled first, and then burnt; but if in the Protestant, or 
any other faith, different from the Catholic, he must be 
roasted alive; and parting with him, his ghostly com- 
forters, the Jesuits tell him that they leave him to the 
devil, who is standing at his elbow to receive his soul, 
and carry it to the flames of hell, as soon as the spirit 
leaves his body! 

Within a period of 15 years, those burned alive in 
Spain were: 

Under Torquemada 8,800 

Under Deza 1,564 

Under Cardinal Ximenes. 2,536 

Burned alive, total 31,912 

Burned in effigy 17,659 

Tortured and penanced 291,456 

Total 354,027 

This total does not include the multitudes put to 
death in France, Italy and Portugal, and the vast num- 
bers who committed suicide or fled the country. See 
the record as given by Lloreate, or any other impartial 
historian. 

In order to get an idea of the nature of the punish- 
ment and the instruments of torture used, let us quote 
from Col. Lemonowski, who was commander in the 
destruction of the Inquisition in Spain. Napoleon 
Bonaparte decreed, December 4, 1808, the extermina- 
tion of this terrible institution in Spain. Lemonowski's 
own account is plain, brief and to the point: 

"I was in Spain in 1809, attached to that part of 
Napoleon's army which was stationed at Madrid. It 
had been decreed by the emperor that the Inquisition 
and the monasteries should be suppressed, but the decree 
was not executed. Months passed away, and the prisons 
of the Inquisition had not been opened. One night 
about 10 or 11 o'clock, as I was walking one of the 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 167 

streets of Madrid, two armed men sprang upon me from 
an alley, and made a furious attack. French mounted 
soldiers, who carried lanterns and rode through the city 
at all hours of the night to preserve order, hastened to 
my assistance, and the assailants escaped; but not until 
I saw by their dress that they belonged to the guards of 
the Inquisition. I went immediately to Marshal Soult, 
then governor of Madrid, told him what had taken place, 
and reminded him of the decree to suppress the institu- 
tion. The troops required were granted, and I pro- 
ceeded to the Inquisition, nearly five miles from the 
city. It was surrounded by a wall of great strength, 
and defended by a company of soldiers. When we ar- 
rived at the walls, I addressed one of the sentinels, and 
summoned the holy fathers to surrender to the Imperial 
army, and open the gates of the Inquisition. The senti- 
nel, who was standing on the wall, appeared to enter 
into conversation for a moment with some one within, 
at the close of which he presented his musket and shot 
one of my men. This was the signal for attack, and I 
ordered my troops to fire upon those who appeared upon 
the wall. It was soon obvious that it was an uneven 
warfare. The wall of the Inquisition was covered with 
the soldiers of the ' Holy Office;' there was also a breast- 
work upon the wall, behind which they partially con- 
cealed themselves as they discharged their fire. We 
had no cannon, nor could we scale the walls, and the 
gates successfully resisted all attempts at forcing them. 
I saw that it was necessary to change the mode of attack, 
and directed some trees to be cut down and trimmed, to 
be used as battering rams. Two of these were taken up 
by detachments of men, as numerous as could work to 
advantage, and brought to bear upon the wall with all 
the power they could exert, while the troops kept up a 
fire to protect them from the fire poured upon them 
from the walls. Presently the walls began to tremble, 
a breach was made, and the Imperial troops rushed into 
the Inquisition. Here we met with an incident which 



168 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

nothing hut Jesuitical effi'ontery is equal to. The In- 
quisitor-general, followed by the father confessors in 
their priestly robes, all came out of their rooms, as we 
were making our wayinto the interior of the Inquisition, 
and with long faces, and their arms crossed over their 
breasts, their fingers resting on their shoulders, as though 
they had been deaf to all the noise of the attack and 
defence, and had just learned what was going on. They 
addressed themselves in the language of rebuke to their 
own soldiers, saying: < Why do you fight our friends, 
the French V The intention was no doubt to make us 
think that this defence was unauthorized by them; hoping 
if they could make us believe that they were friendly, 
they should have a better opportunity in the confusion 
of the moment to escape. Their artifice was too shallow, 
and did not succeed. I caused them to be placed under 
guard, and all the soldiers of the Inquisition to be secured 
as prisoners. We then proceeded to examine all the 
rooms of the edifice. We passed through room after 
room, found all in perfect order, richly furnished, with 
altars and crucifixes, and wax candles in abundance; but 
could find no evidence of iniquity being practiced there — 
nothing of the peculiar features which we expected to 
find in the Inquisition. We found splendid paintings, 
and a rich and expensive library. Here were beauty 
and splendor, and the most perfect order on which my 
eyes ever rested. The architecture, the proportions 
were perfect. The ceilings and floors of wood were 
scoured and highly polished. The marble floors were 
arranged with a strict regard to order. There was every- 
thing to please the eye and gratify a cultivated taste; 
but where were those horrid instruments of torture of 
which we have been told, and where those dungeons in 
which human beings were said to be buried alive % 

"' We searched in vain. The holy fathers assured 
us that they had been belied ; that we had seen all, and 
I was prepared to give up the search, convinced that 
this Inquisition was difierent from others of which I had 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtain^. 169 

4. 
heard. But Col. De Lile was not so ready as myself to 
give up the search, and said to me, 'Colonel, you are 
commander to-day, and as you say, so it must be; but if 
you will be advised by me, let this marble floor be exam- 
ined. Let water be brought and poured upon it, and 
we will watch and see if there is any place through 
which it passes more freely than others.' I replied to 
him, 'Do as you please,' and ordered water to be brought 
accordingly. The slabs of marble were large and beau- 
tifully polished. When the water had been poured 
over the floor, much to the dissatisfaction of the In- 
quisitors, a careful examination was made of every seam 
in the floor to see if the water passed through. Pres- 
ently Col. De Lile exclaimed that he had found it. By 
the side of these marble slabs the water passed through 
fast, as though there was an opening beneath. All hands 
were now at work for further discover}' ; the officers Avith 
their swords and the soldiers with their bayonets seeking 
to clean out the seam and pry up the slab; others with 
the butts of their muskets strike the slab with all their 
might to break it; while the priests remonstrated against 
desecrating their holy and beautiful house. While thus 
enojao^ed a soldier, who was strikino^ with the batt of his 
musket, struck a spring and the marble slab flew vip. 
Then the faces of the Inquisitors grew pale as Bel- 
shazzar's when the handwriting appeared on the wall; 
they trembled all over. Beneath the marble slab, now 
partly up, there was a staircase. I stepped to the altar 
and took from the caudlestick one of the candles, four 
feet in length, which was burning, that I might explore 
the room below. As I was doing this, I was arrested by 
one of the Inquisitors, who laid his hand gently on my 
arm, and with a demure and holy look said, 'B^y son, 
you must not take those lights with your bloody hands; 
they are holy.' 'Well,' said I, 'I Avill take a holy thing 
to shed light on iniquity; I will bear the responsibility.' 
I took the candle and proceeded down the staircase. As 
we reached the foot of the stairs w^e entered a large 



170 I'lfteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

square room, which was called the hall of judgment. In 
the center of it was a large block and a chain fastened to 
it. On this they had been accustomed to place the ac- 
cused, chained to his seat. On one side of the room was 
an elevated part, called the 'Throne of Judgment.' This 
the Inquisitor-General occupied; and on either side were 
seats, less elevated, for the holy fathers, when engaged 
in the solemn btisiness of the Holy Inquisition. From 
this room we proceeded to the right and obtained access 
to the small cells, extending the entire length of the 
edifice, and here such sights were presented as we hoped 
never to see again. These cells were of solitary confine- 
ment, where the wretched victims of Inquisitorial hate 
were confined, year after year, till death released them 
of their sufierings, and their bodies were suflfered to re- 
main until they were entirely decayed, and the rooms 
had been fit for others to occupy. To prevent their 
being ofiensive to those who occupied the Inquisition 
there were flues, or tubes, extending to the open air 
sufficiantly capacious to carry oflf the odor. In these 
cells we found the remains of some who had paid the 
debt of nature; some who had been dead apparently but 
a short time, while of others nothing remained but their 
bones still chained to .the floors of their dungeons. In 
other cells we found living suflferers of both sexes, and of 
every age, from three score and ten down to fourteen or 
fifteen years — all naked, as when born into this world, 
and all in chains! There were old men and aged women 
who had been shut up for many years. Here, too, were 
the middle-aged, and the young man and the maiden of 
fourteen years old. The soldiers immediately went to 
work t^) release these captives from their chains, and 
took their overcoats and other clothing which they gave 
to cover their nakedness. They were exceedingly an- 
xious to bring them out to the light of day, but I, being 
aware of the danger, had food given them, and then 
brought them gradually to the light as they were able to 
bear it. We then proceeded to explore another room on 



J'Z/ieen Years Behind the Curtains, 171 

the left. Here we found the instruments of torture of 
every kind which the ingenuity of naan or devils could 
invent. The first was a machine by which the victim was 
confined, and then, beginning with the fingers, every 
joint in the hands, arms and body were broken or drawn, 
one after another, until the victim died. The second was 
a box in which the head of the victim was so closely con- 
fined by a screw that he could not move it in any way. 
Over the box was a vessel from which a drop of water a 
second fell upon the head of the victim — every successive 
drop falling upon precisely the same place on the head 
suspended the circulation in a few minutes and put the 
suflerer in the most excruciating agony. The third was 
an infernal machine, laid horizontally, to which the vic- 
tim was bound, the machine being then placed between 
two beams in which were a score of knives so fixed that 
by turning the machine with a crank the flesh of the^ 
sufiferer was torn from his limbs, all in small pieces. The 
fourth passed the other in ingenuity. Its interior was a 
beautiful woman, or large doll, richly dresssed, with arms 
extended, ready to embrace its victims. Around her feet 
a semi-circle was drawn. The victim who passed over 
this fatal mark touched a spring, which caused the 
diabolical engine to open; its arms clasped him, and a 
thousand knives cut him into as many pieces in the deadly 
embrace. The sight of these engines of infernal cruelty 
kindled the rage of the soldiers to fury^ They declared 
that every Inquisitor and every soldier should be put to 
the torture. Their rage was ungovernable. They began 
with the holy fathers. They first put to death in the ma- 
chine for joints. The tortiu-e of the Inquisitor put to death 
by the dropping of water on his head was most excruciat- 
ing. The poor man cried out in agony to be taken from 
the fatal machine. The Inquisitor-general was brought 
before the infernal machine, called ' The Virgin.' He 
begged to be excused. ' No,' said they, 'you have caused 
others to kiss her, and now you must do it.' They in- 
terlocked bayonets, so as to form large forks, and with 



172 ^ Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

these pushed him over the circle. The beautiful image 
instantly prepared for the embrace, clasped him in its 
arms, and he was cut into innumerable pieces. In the 
meantime it was reported through Madrid that the prison 
of the Inquisition was broken open, and multitudes 
hastened to the fatal spot. And, oh, what a meeting 
was there! It was like a resurrection. About 100 
who had been buried for many years were now restored 
to life. There were fathers who found their long-lost 
daughters, wives were restored to their husbands, sisters 
to their brothers, and parents to their children; and 
some could recognize no friends among the multitude. 
The scene was such as no tongue can describe." 

It is not necessary here to go into a detailed account 
of the strangling, the burning, the torturing and barba- 
rous treatment heretics received in other countries. It 
would require, volumes to speak of the great men of 
* science, who suffered persecution and death at the hands 
of Inquisitors. When one considers the heinous methods 
employed to dispatch the poor victim out of this life; 
some being strangled first and burnt afterwards, others 
being pressed almost to death by instruments of enor- 
mous weight, and more pierced and punctured with 
needles under the nails of the fingers and nails of the 
toes, and then subjected to the thumb-screw and rack, 
when they were asked to retract their apostate doctrines. 
When one meditates over these diabolical cruelties, he 
is inclined to believe that the casting of the early Chris- 
tians into the arena to be devoured and torn by lions, 
wolves and tigers, was the milder form of martyrdom. 
Oh, how diametrically opposed to the gospel of Jesus 
Christ has been all this papal reign of terror and death ! 
Surely the system that countenanced it, blasphemes, and 
is guilty of sacrilege by claiming to be commissioned by 
God as the representative of the meek and lowly Saviour, 
whose doctrine advocated "Peace on earth and good 
will to men." He was and is the Prince of peace, whose 
kingdom shall be characteristic of peace, justice, mercy 
and forgiveness. "A bruised reed shall He not break 
and the smoking flax shall He not quench." — (Isa. 42:3.) 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 173 

CHAPTER XXI. 

« 

The Roman Catholic Church and Science. 

What I mean by science in this chapter is simply 
knowledge in general. JEducation merely begets know- 
ledge. It develops man mentally, morally, physically 
and intellectually. Man is born with intellect to a cer- 
tain extent, and it may be put down as the root and seed 
from which knowledge grows, matures and brings forth 
fruit a hundred fold. From it comes power, culture, 
comfort, inventions, wealth and general civilization. 

As in the seed of the plant we have roots, stem, 
leaves, blossom, fruit and nutriment ; so in the intellect of 
man in a potential state is all his future power, progress 
and wealth. But as the seed of the plant needs to be 
brought into contact with light, heat, air, soil and 
moisture ere it develops, so must the human intellect 
come in contact with other forces before it becomes 
knowledge. 

The will, the feeling, the memory and all the facul- 
ties play an important part, and should have the utmost 
liberty. Each has to accomplish its special w^ork and 
fulfil its end. The mind naturally rejoices in its freedom. 
It knows no sex, race, denomination, creed or nation- 
alty. Spontaneous thought is the legitimate offspring 
of the intellect. If the mind be denied the liberty to 
exercise its faculties, the mental productions are just 
so much strangled and remain literary deformities. 

But this is what the church of Rome does. She 
strangles thought by putting the mind in prison. She 
teaches that freedom of thought is a mortal sin and con- 
demns to hell. By nipping thought in the bud she op- 
poses education in the vital part. The law of the church 
declares that she has entire control of education, and 
that the state has no right to grant liberty of thought, of 
conscience, of speech or of the press. This is the 
teaching of her canon law, but all loyal Romanists must 



174 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

obey that fundamental code of their church under pain 
of anathema. Every Roman Catholic is required to be- 
lieve in the infallibility of the pope. But thai? dogma 
necessarily excludes all others as sure teachers even in 
secular knowledge, for the pope and his church bring 
secular learning under the head of faith and morals just 
as often as it serves the interests of the church. Rome 
teaches that she is the only church designated by Christ 
to teach the nations of the earth, and that when Christ 
said to the Apostles : "Go into all the world and teach 
all nations He meant only the Apostles and the popes of 
Rome and their satellites. She then can teach the truth. 
Others are heretics and teach error. That is why 
bishops take the oath at consecration of persecuting to 
their utmost all heretics. According therefore to her 
assumed prerogatives heretics have no right to teach 
politics, biology, medicine, chemistry, anatomy, astronomy, 
philosophy, or in fact any branch of knowledge, because 
in the first place they never got a right to be "heretics," 
and in the second place all their teachings are colored 
with heresy. The branches of science must come under 
Rome's jurisdiction all the time, or as she puts it; seini?er 
pro semper^ (all and every moment of the time.) 

-Hence it is Rome's to speak, and it is the people's to 
be s lent. It is Rome's to command, and the -people's to 
obey. It is hers to define new doctrines of faith, the 
people's to believe them. She puts authority above 
truth, and ecclesiastical loyalty above sincerity. She 
magnifies form, and belittles spirit. She worships form 
and neglects reality. 

She opposes universal instruction because it opposes 
her and her unreasonable doctrines. It undermines the 
doctrine of infallibility and predisposes the rising genera- 
tion to think, speak and act for themselves. If children 
are educated in such a manner that they can trace the 
causes of events, and know why grass is green and snow 
is white. When they understand why people die, why 
lightning smites and makes a report, the priest in pro- 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 175 

portion finds himself at a discount with these young peo- 
ple. They won't have his thinking, nor will they readily 
indorse superstitions, so that eventually the priest's 
miracles and lying wonders die out for the want of ignor- 
ance and fear to live on. 

Educate the people and soon the priest will find no 
market for his mysterious power and saving sacraments, 
In the language of the common people the church of 
Rome does not permit interrogative pronouns. Her 
sentences must be free from whof What? How? Why? 
Whe7'ef &c. There is no euphony in these monosyllables 
for Romish ears. 

If an infallible pope should occasionally happen to 
be fallible that must not be looked on as an error, or a 
vice; it is on the contrary a virtue. Errors of popes are 
virtues; but errors of people are grave sins. 

HxLinanum est erare as man, but divinum est erare 
as a pope, or bishop. 

- That the Roman Catholic church, therefore opposes 
education there is ample proof; she has put a premium 
on ignorance by granting indulgences, pretending to work 
miracles and fulminating excommunications against 
those who ventured to think for themselves. The late 
Vatican council decreed: "Let him be anathematized 
who shall say that it may at any time come to pass in the 
progress of science that the doctrines set forth by the 
Roman Catholic church must be taken in another sense 
than that in which the church has ever received them, 
and yet receives them." According to this doctrine if 
the church were now to teach that the earth is flat and 
does not move on an orbit around the sun, her people 
would have to believe in that absurdity. It will not 
vindicate her by stating that she would not teach such 
errors. But she has taught them and still insists that 
she is unchangeable in faith and doctrine. If the church 
say that this earth is created just 6,000 years of 365 
days each; and if the bowels of the earth testify that 
it must have existed over one million years, the un- 



176 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

erring hand prints of God in the lower strata of the earth 
and all the science of geology must give Avay to Rome's 
infallible interpretation of^ the book of Genesis. If 
science and experience teach that this earth is globular 
in form and moves on its axis, and also on its orbit at 
the rate of 68,000 miles an hour, then we must deny the 
experiences of our being and the reality of gravitation, 
and implicitly assent to the dogmas of an Italian priest. 
Pope Urban, the eighth decreed that the earth was the 
center of the world, and that it did not move either on 
its axis or on its orbit. "In the name and by the au- 
thority of Jesus Christ, the plenitude of which resides in 
his vicar, the pope, that the proposition that the earth is 
not the center of the world, and that it moves with a 
diurnal motion is absurd, philosophically false and erro- 
neous in faith." If the present pope, Leo the XIII were 
to issue a bull that the air we breathe is a mystery out- 
side the realm of thought, the study of the atmosphere 
would be unlawful. The aerial philosopher who dared 
to dive into molecular science then would be accursed, 
and if the power to do it existed his body would be con- 
signed to the flames and his soul sentenced to hell. What 
assurance have we now that the Roman church would not 
put to death scientific men as she has done not long ago 
if she only wielded the power to execute her " will? 
Such thing as the investigation of the atmosphere and 
declaring that its constituent parts consisted of oxygen, 
nitrogen and hydrogen would be heresy and the teacher 
punished accordingly. The orthodox Roman Catholic 
would have to acknowledge that Rome is right and rea- 
son is wrong. But the church teaches more absurd 
things than this, namely that a piece of dough, a little 
flower and water, kneaded by a housekeeper and con- 
secrated by her employer at mass is the actual, material 
flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. If the church with the 
pope as head can make Catholics digest this tough doc- 
trine and deny the evidence of their own senses and the 
uniformity of God's laws what cannot the church and 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 177 

the pope compel men to believe? It is just as reasons- 
able to teach that man does not exist, that he only thinks 
he does; his senses and his entire experience deceive 
him. It is as true to say that the sun does not rise or 
set, and that the world is all imagination and deception. 

Pope Leo the XIII in his encyclical of June 20, 
1888, condemns liberty of teaching, liberty of consci- 
ence, liberty of thinking for oneself. This is why the 
cliurch has been always opposed to public schools, w^hich 
train the young to think for themselves and to a large ex- 
tent dispense with the doctrine of infallibility. The 
popes have long since learned that the common schools 
have been powerful factors in adding to the church's 
loss. For the last 60 years in the United States alone 
the church enumerates her loss at (15,000,000) fifteen 
millions; and the greater portion of this loss she attri- 
butes to the public schools. Of late she has made vigor- 
ous efforts to stay this loss by establishing parochial 
schools where possible in every Catholi'c congregation 
throughout this country. Parochial walls and convent 
gates are considered the best impediments to free access 
of Catholic children to associate with their Protestant 
neighbors, and thus prevent them fi*om imbibing princi- 
ples of liberty and American institutions. After the 
children leave these schools their thoughts and consci- 
ences are presided over by a foreign priesthood who 
foster and water the seed sown in the parochial schools. 

The young heart that is taught that freedom of 
thought is a mortal sin, and that a mortal sin condemns 
to hell is blighted and stunted in the beginning of its 
mental efforts, ajid hardly ever after ascends to any 
high literary, independent eminence. The bird deprived 
of its natural environment and enclosed in the cage soon 
looses its beautiful plumage and sweetest melody. The 
mind forbidden to think out a certain line of reasoning, 
to read this or that side of an argument, to give expres- 
sion to this or that idea, is discouraged at the threshold 
of knowledge. It fails to be accurate in the first steps 



178 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

of education. It fails to observe closely, honestly eagerly 
"and receive impressions free and individual from ex- 
ternal objects. It is wanting in forming correct judg- 
ments from comparisons arid is unable to fearlessly ex- 
press convictions. 

Roman Catholic colleges and parochial schools are 
not competent to teach, as instructors they are worth- 
less. They are devoid of thorough instructors and of 
scientific books. The only works I ever saw on science 
in the R.C. colleges were a few which belonged to Protestant 
authors. I often had to steal away from the students to 
study my chemistry, philosophy and geology. One day 
a priest who was professor in the seminary where I 
graduated came along over the play grounds, and 
examined the book I was reading. It was on molar and 
molecular philosophy by one of the foremost authors of 
this age. He said: "Put that book away. Don't you 
know you cannot be a Roman Catholic and study such 
heresy." "Why," said I, "Father this is a good book. It 
says nothing about faith, morals or religion of any sort. 
It is purely scientific." "Yes, but it is written by a 
Protestant who hates the Roman Catholic church; it is a 
bad book." "Did ever you read it?" said I. ''No; of 
course I didn't." "Well how do you know it is bad?" 
"You have enough Catholic books to read on the sub- 
ject." 'T never saw one," said I, "fit to be read on 
these points. Yes I studied Mivart,but he is under cen- 
sure from the church. The church says he didn't un- 
derstand himself, so I can't understand his vaporings." 
I did not put the book away, and cherish that grand 
philosophy to-day as much as at that seminary. 

Another young priest said to me one day, " astro- 
nomy and geology are all nonsense. What does any one 
know about the moon or stars, or thunder or lightning? 
These are mysteries of God that you and I have no right 
to try to solve. Cling to mother church. She will teach 
you and me the salvation of our poor souls. That is all 
we are in this life for. Let us never be drifted about by 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 179 

every wind of doctrine and opinion. There is but one 
opinion, and that is found on Peter's rock." 

In the church of Eome it must be conceded that 
there have been some men of high attainments, but they 
became learned in spite of the church. She treated her 
learned men with a vengeance, hardly ever equaled by 
ancient Jew, Greek or barbarian. She not only tortured 
their bodies with fire and sword, but pretended to be 
able to capture their souls and deliver them over to satan. 
For the sole crime of science she banished the living and 
burned the dead. Her pages of church history, I found, 
were stained with the blood of brave men who were 
guilty of no other crime than asserting their convictions 
in well established facts. Her spiritual sword, I found 
cut right and left, and spared none who opposed her 
teaching from the humble peasant to the king upon his 
throne. Its bloody point was never once covered with 
velvet. From her there was no appeal. Her court was 
supreme. One day while reading over some propositions 
in astronomy, for holding which in times gone by was im- 
prisonment for life, or perhaps death, I blessed God that 
I was an American citizen, protected by the stars and 
stripes in my religious and civil liberty, I thought how I 
would be treated if I lived in the days of Galileo, 
Wyclifie, Huss and Bruno. I would have fared ill on 
account of my determination to persist in what I believe 
to be right. If some of these great men before whom we 
are not fit to hold a taper refused to say: "Yes the earth 
does not move," what has been their fate? We 
will here pass over her persecution on account of religi- 
ous liberty. We will pass over the imprisonment of 
Galileo and the ignorant monks, bishops and priests who 
sat on his case and condemned his theories. When I 
saw a reproduction of that famous trial with monks, 
ignorant of the geography of their own country, resting 
the finger on the forehead to fathom the depth of the 
heresy of a man dreaming of a new country lying to- 
wards the setting sun, I confessed that that treatment 



180 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

of Galileo would forever prejudice me against the sys- 
tem of Rome. I confessed that I should pull out of that 
system altogether when the favorable opportunity would 
present itself. 

We will not go into details of the treatment of 
Campanella, Harvey, Columbus, Montaigne, Mollier, 
Bruno, Huss and Wycliffe. I will pass by the exiles, 
excommunications, massacres, confiscations, famines, 
poverty, suffering and death suffered in the name of 
science, morality andreligion. 

Roman Catholic instruction has too much Romanism 
in it, and too little knowledge. In the Romish countries 
if one can read a prayer book and count the beads he is 
considered there a star of the first magnitude; and he is, 
comparatively speaking, for the masses are very illiterate^ 
and look upon the person versed in the prayer book and 
the beads as an angel of light among men. Romish 
thought that rules and leads the w^ay in these countries 
is far behind the times. It is not moving the people on- 
ward and upward, but keeps them unprogressive in 
religion. Wherever we find Protestant thought prevail- 
ing, and that is now in all the progressive and civilized 
nations, the country is moving on in advance of the world 
to a higher standard of development, refinement and 
general culture. Protestant thought is moving the United 
States to higher inventions and discoveries, and to greater 
wealth, material and intellectual. The education given 
by the Protestant mind of to-day is making thought al- 
most visible, tangible, and is applying it to the mechan- 
ical world to enrich the people, to bless the nation, and 
relieve suffering humanity from much of the suffering 
and drudgery of life. Romish thought, on the other 
hand, is crude, aboriginal, unprogressive, timid, servile, 
indolent and pagan. 

An orthodox Roman Catholic may be known any 
place by the low standard of thought exhibited in his 
expressions. That and the look of the eye are my signs 
of designating one of that system. In associating with 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 181 

one educated at the parochial schools you first notice in 
conversation much circumlocution, trying as it were to 
conceal something, he hardly knows himself. 
If strano^ers to each other, the adherent of Rome makes 
efforts to find out your religion, and hardly ever fails to 
acquaint you of his belonging to the "true church." If 
it be Friday or Sunday morning he is sure to allude to 
another church, directly or indirectly. There is no im- 
provement to be derived from mingling with such im- 
becile minds. Protestant thoughts do not run in such 
channels. They proceed on higher ground. Protestant 
thought gave us religions and civil liberty. It gave the 
world the greatest men who ever lived. It gave a Wash- 
ington, Franklin, Clay, Morse, Edison. It has given us 
one of the best Constitutions ever framed by mortal. 
To Protestant intelligence we owe the engine, the float- 
ing palace that traverses the mighty deep, and carries its 
precious freight from shore to shore. To it we are in- 
debted for the iron horse, that speeds over the continent 
with the rapidity of lightning without growing faint. It 
has blessed us with electrical developments, and has 
brouofht the secret atoms of force from the bowels of the 
earth to be subservient to man, to give him light, heat, 
power and rapid transit. Protestant thought has always 
been in advance of that of the Roman Catholic Church. 
It has been at the bottom of the ocean laying the cable, 
and constructed over the surface of the earth our tele- 
graph and telephone wires. The printing press and the 
mowing machine are evidence of the result of that 
thought. But let as make a contrast, and ask what has 
Roman Catholic thought giveii us? If that church can 
educate better and give a higher plane of thinking, 
where, pray, can we find it? The Romish institutions 
have given us more hoodlums, forgers, tramps, drunk- 
ards, boycotters, pugilists, saloon-keepers, free-and-easy 
men than any other institutions I know of. Romish 
thought has not been found among our inventors of note. 
Out of 15,000 inventors only 15 are put down as Roman 



182 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

Catholics, and most of the inveotions of these 15 were 
for handling the liquor traffic. It is true it has given 
our country monasteries, nunneries, monks, beg- 
ging sisters, and "the little sisters of the poor," or little 
house to house tramps. It is also true that it has fur- 
nished this land of liberty with Molly McGuires, Clan- 
nae-Gaels, Knights of Labor and the Mafia. It has done 
more than its share to supply poor-houses, jails, asy- 
lums and penitentiaries with traitors, boodlers, assassins, 
paupers and ex -Fenians. But what use on earth are 
such productions to any country? They are so much 
human waste clogging the wheels of the golden chariot 
of progress, intelligence, temperance and virtue. 

Kome has always been and ever will be, therefore, 
hostile to education, especially that given in public 
schools. She shies at education. Her infallible consti- 
tution has no affinity for it, no more than oil has for 
water. Her fixed law admits of no compromise. Let 
us repeat a few of these canons, bearing on the subject: 

1. "The church has the right to deprive the civil 
authorities of the control of the public schools." 

2. "The pope has the right to practice the uncondi- 
tional censure of books." 

3. "The church has the right to require that the 
Catholic religion shall be the religion of the state, to the 
exclusion of all others." 

It is evident, therefore, that the Roman Catholic 
church discourages the development of the intellect, and 
is opposed to education and public schools in every land. 
Her attitude towards education is to the end that she 
may the more easily hold undisputed sway over the minds 
consciences of men and nations. Public schools every- 
where not under her immediate jurisdiction she opposes 
and denounces, because they undermine her infallibility 
and predispose free, independent individuals to think 
for themselves. To make good, legal subjects of the 
church of Rome, is the object of the parochial schools. 
Their literary products bear on the brow the mark of in- 



JFipeen Years Behind the Curtains. 183 

feriority. They are defective, mouldy and worthless as 
educators. As of secular knowledge the same may be 
said of Eome in her relation to moral and spiritual train- 
ing. Look at the moral and spiritual as well as secular 
productions of Kome right in the homes of the popes for 
hundreds of years, and facts will speak for themselves. 
What is the result in those countries? What is the re- 
sult in our own, where Roman schools and priestly 
thought prevail? Are Roman Catholics in these sections 
better than Protestant Christians? What is the cause of 
the Catholics being in the background? How shall we 
counteract the baneful influence? I would say, educate 
the common people in common schools. Bring Catholic 
and Protestant children more together to exchange 
thoughts and ideas. When Catholics get a taste of 
liberty and reach a high mark of individual personal 
thought they will be able to see over the priest, sacra- 
ment, and mass book. The next step they will desire to 
take will e to "come out from among them" and seek 
salvation elsewhere. Let us help the people to higher 
knowledge of things in general. Let us help them to a 
Christian life. Proclaim to them the liberty of Christ 
throughout all the land and all the inhabitants thereof." 



184 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Origin of Roman Catholic Chuech. 

The members of the Roman Catholic church are 
taught ad nauseam that their church is the only true one 
of Christ and his apostles. The principal logic brought 
forward to convince them of this fact is that it is the 
"oldest church," that it is the "first church." The force 
of the logic is that: " Whatever is the oldest is the 
best. But the Roman Catholic church is the oldest. 
Therefore she is the best." 

According to this, the following suggestions would 
also be true: The devil is older than Saint Peter; there- 
fore the devil is better than Saint Peter. 

The tyrant Nero is older than any president of the 
United States; therefore Nero is the better man. 

They never consider that a thing may be very old, 
and yet very immoral and imperfect. Paganism is much 
older than Christianity, but is it better \ The early 
abodes of our ancestors were caves in the rocks and 
dens on the hillside, yet no intelligent man will concede 
that these are superior to our modern brick houses and 
handsome palaces. The Chinese plough is over 2,000 
years older than our American plough; but is it superior % 
The former is a limb of a tree with forks for a handle, 
while the latter is too well known to every American to 
need description here. The old mule and his clumsy 
coach is very old, as a means of conveyance, but surely 
they do not excel our steam coach and beautiful electric 
car. So with most of our industries, customs, habits 
and general mode of living. Our modern ships, railroad 
cars, buggies, grates, stoves, schools, clothing, are far 
superior to those of olden times. The shoes and coats 
of our forefathers consisted, for the most part, of the 
raw hide of dead animals; but now we pride ourselves 
in kid gloves, calf boots and broadcloth. Some articles 
may be improved by age if they are the right sort to 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 185 

begin with. If corrupt and bad at the beginning, cor- 
ruption and wickedness will mark their career and ter- 
mination. 

So with the Romish church it was corrupt to begin 
with, and age can never eftace its black stains and cover 
its wickedness with a mantle of purity. 

That tiie Romish chur<)h had no existence during 
the first tiiree centuries of the Christian era cannot be 
denied. In fact as a papal church she had no existence 
during the first six centuries; and as a full-fledged 
Romish, papal church, it was not developed before the 
tenth and eleventh centuries. It did not exist in the 
first centuries of the Christian church. How do we 
know- ';■ Because the chiu-ches of Christ, during the first 
centuries, knew nothing of Romish doctrines, much less 
taught them. Christ never taught any of the Romish 
dogmas; neither did the apostles. If they commanded 
them in any way, written or oral, we would have some 
proof of the fact handed down; but of this both Bible 
and tradition are silent. The apostolic chiirch never 
taught the doctrines of Purgatory, of auricular confes- 
sion to a priest. They acknowledged no priesthood in 
the Romish sense of the word. The dogmas of the 
Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary they taught 
not. They never said a mass, nor absolved from sins, 
nor put on vestments, nor used holy water, ashes and 
candles. They never heard of the bastard sacraments 
of Penance, Confirmation, Eucharist, Extreme-unction, 
Holy Orders or Matrimony. These strange doctrines 
are nowhere referred to by the faithful Peter, the loyal 
Paul, the meek John, or the humble James. If these 
were true, infallible doctrines commanded by Christ to 
be taught and practiced all days to the end of time, is it 
not singular that Christ never alluded to any of them 
during his entire ministry? Isn't it absurd to say the 
faithful apostles would have observed a strict silence on 
these dogmas if they were to be of obligation and of 
faith ? They never taught the dogma of Indulgence, 



186 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

Celibacy, Excommunication, Infallibility, Transubstan- 
tiation. How account for this unanimous silence on the 
part of the apostles and disciples of Jesus ? They never 
said mass for the benefit of the souls of their deceased 
brethren, which they would have done if the mass is the 
same true sacrifice of Christ, commanded to be ofiered 
up by his ministers until the consummation of the world. 

Ancient Kome "was not built in a day," neither was 
papal Rome. Like grass the growth was imperceptible 
and gradual; but it grew all the same from its heathen 
embryo to full maturity. By little and little Rome fell 
into heathen customs and Pagan habits. During the 
age of episcopacy in the churches, the bishops of Rome 
became proud, domineering, superstitious by force of 
circumstances and natural environment. The fact of 
being a bishop in the city of the Caesars, made the occu- 
pant of the bishopric partake to a certain degree of the 
disposition and qualifications of his imperial majesty. 
The emperor of Kome was respected and feared not only 
at home, but beyond the seas; and why should not the 
bishop by virtue of his place of residence carry in his 
person terror and episcopal authority? As the Pagans 
began to creep into the church, their superstitions and 
idolatries crept with them and were tolerated for the 
time being in hope of encouraging the ''new converts" 
and others to come over from their idolatry. In the 
third century great abuses were smoothed over with the 
hope of transforming them into Christian virtues. But 
all this time there was no pope. It was not until the 
church grew more Pagan and less Christian that the 
necessity for a. pope manifested itself. The Pagans had 
their Supreme Pontiff, a Pagan Pope, infallible in spir- 
itual and temporal affairs. The new converts began to 
look up to the bishop of Rome as a man possessing all 
the attributes of their ancient Pontifex Maximusj and 
suffice it to say that the idea seemed to please most of 
the bishops of the imperial city. 

In this way the bishop of Rome began to entertain 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 187 

the idea of supremacy over other bishops, in keeping 
with the emperor's jurisdiction over the nations. But 
notwithstanding this there was really no pope until the 
seventh century. In that century the emperor Phocas 
conferred on the bishop of Rome the title, for the first 
time, of '' Universal Bishop." A short time after the 
king of the Lombards donated to the bishop of Rome 
towns, cities and large tracts of land, which paved the 
way for a temporal power, for a temporal prince of the 
church. In the same century Pepin and Charlemagne 
confirmed these gifts, and added more thereto. 

Hence it was that the bishop of Rome began to 
assume the title of Pope of Rome, and temporal as well as 
spiritual sovereign. Then it was that the new doctrines 
emerged from their latent state, and came forth as 
authoritative dogmas, requiring on the part of all 
adherents implicit obedience thereto, under the pain of 
anathema. As soon as these false doctrines entered the 
church, many of her best and most faithful men left, and 
have continued leaving until this day. When the Su- 
preme Pontifl* took his seat on the spiritual and temporal 
throne, " Doing Penance " was instituted, as it never 
was before. Absolutions were granted for the most 
enormous crimes. Dispensations from sacred obliga- 
tions and valid oaths were freely distributed. 

The age of papal ceremonies had its inception, 
among the first of which was that of kissing the pope's 
big toe. The worship of images and pictures was sanc- 
tioned in the eighth century, as an outgrowth of the 
papacy. In the tenth century metal bells began to be 
christened and sprinkled with holy water. Dead men 
and imaginary saints were not only prayed to, but canon- 
ized. In the eleventh century Transubstantiation was 
formally sanctioned, and the clergy were forbidden to 
marry. Indulgences became soon after as common as 
holy water and candles. Then came the ceremonies of 
administering the Extremeunction, and some time later 



188 Fifteen years Behind the Curtains. 

it was proclaimed as a holy sacrament, binding on all 
Roman Catholics. 

The doctrine of the seven sacraments was first taught 
by Peter Lombard, and was finally adopted in the tenth 
century. In the thirteenth century the Inquisition began 
its cruel butcheries, and at this time the doctrine of the 
Eucharist was finally and fully approved of. In this 
century the doctrine of auricular confession was made 
compulsory, though it existed from the fifth century. 
At this time also the host began to be elevated and 
worshipped. In 1470 the Eosary of the Virgin Mary 
was introduced by one Allan de la Roche, and afterwards 
confirmed by Pope Sixtus the Fifth. In the sixteenth 
century the council of Trent raised Tradition and the 
Apocrypha to a level with the word of God, and declared 
the doctrine of the mass to be the same sacrifice as that 
of Christ on the cross. It also denounced Justification 
by Faith. 

In the nineteenth century another new doctrine 
was coined and thrown into the treasury of the church, 
as if the faithful had not already a surfeit of them; and 
that was the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of 
the Virgin Mary. Then last, and not least of all the 
papal doctrines, is that of Infallibility, bestowed not by 
Jesus Christ, but by Pope Pius the Ninth, in the year of 
our Lord 1870. 

It is therefore a historical fact that Romish doc- 
trines grew by degrees, at different times, in accord with 
the selfish cravings of the human heart. 

I refer the reader to dates of other new doctrines, 
established by Rome, to the '^ Faith Once Delivered to 
the Saints," by the writer. 

Baptismal Salvation was started as early as the year 
of A. D. 150; and as a result of this doctrine, that of 
infant baptism followed in the third century. When 
people were led to believe that baptism saved them, the 
natural propensity of parents induced them to hasten 
their babes to the baptismal font, as early as possible. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 189 

As early as A. D. 251, the true churches declared 
non-fellowship with the false churches and false mem- 
bers. The union of the false churches with the state 
occurred under Constantine the Great, in A. D. 312. 
This may be put down as the real origin of the Romish 
hierarchy. This false system of Rome did not cause the 
church of Christ to fail, no more than Judas caused the 
other apostles to fail. The church of Christ shall remain 
forever, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
her. But the devil has always been going around like 
the roaring lion, seeking whom he maj" devour. He has 
been at work even in the time of the apostles, and sowed 
division and corrupt seeds in the church w^hich went out 
from her, as Judas went out, and formed themselves 
into political, hierarchical bodies, called churches, but 
ought to be named kingdoms of Antichrist. There is no 
doubt but the system of Rome now is Antichrist, the 
"man of sin," "the son of perdition." Paul said in his 
day, pointing at this wicked system: "Let no man 
deceive you, for that day shall not come," &r. These 
false systems that have gone out by degrees from the 
gospel church, the church of Christ and his apostles, 
and which teach false doctrines, made by men, w^e call 
the Roman Catholic church. Church sounds better in 
civilized society than the horny beast, or Antichrist. 

The Roman Catholic church, therefore, cannot be 
the church of Christ and his apostles, because it came 
three hundred years too late for that. The true church 
of Christ began with himself, under his teaching and 
guidance, and has continued ever since, under that 
guidance, independent of Rome. There is no similarity 
between the church of Christ and that of Rome. The 
New Testament church is as different from the church 
of Rome as a dove is different from a big grizzly bear. 

The church of Christ embraces only as real mem- 
bers those called out from the world, believing and 
baptized together in doctrine and fellowship of the 
gospel. To be in the church of Christ, one must be 



190 Fifteen Years Behmd the Curtains ^ 

born of the spirit of God, repent and believe in the Lord 
Jesus Christ, as his only Saviour and Mediator. The 
church of Christ is one in love, in essential doctrine, in 
faith. She is apostolic and teaches the same gospel that 
the apostles taught, a-nd are guided by the same rule of 
faith as they were — the word of God. She is holy, and 
is known by the righteous lives of her members. She 
is guided into all truth by the infallible word and the 
infallible spirit, promised to every humble reader of the 
sacred Scriptures. 

But, as we have seen, the Roman Catholic church 
never has been the church of Christ. It is not now. 
On the contrary, it is a huge anti-Christian despotism 
conceived by satan, generated in sin, nursed in ignorance 
and superstition. She has been nourished by fraud and 
fed on the blood of the martyrs. She has been exalted 
by treachery, courted by harlots, and has scourged the 
world by the rack, the chain, the dungeon, the fire and 
sword. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 191 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
The Popes. 

In another chapter has been seen the rise of the 
papacy. In this sketch will be treated the unholy lives 
of a vast number of popes, who would have been more 
in their environment and national element behind prison 
bars than in the "chair of Peter," representing Jesus 
Christ, and boldly claiming his infallible power. In it 
will be seen how male and female popes in turn played 
their devilish games of fraud, robbery and murder while 
pretending to be steering the bark of Peter over the 
stormy sea of life. After perusing this chapter the 
reader may well ask how can the body be holy with 
such satanic heads as several of the popes have' been. 
If the popes were what they claim to be, and have been, 
that is, infallible vicars of Jesus Christ, they never would 
have taught so many errors in doctrines and morals as 
they have taught. What one pope taught as de fide^ 
that is, of faith, a succeeding pope condemned both the 
error and the pope who taught it as a heretic. Perhaps 
there is not another body of men of equal size with the 
popes of Rome who taught more absurdities as articles 
of faith, and were in turn contradicted by their succes- 
sors. Pope Formous was sat upon, even after his death, 
by the pope who succeeded him in the papacy, Pope 
Stephen VII. This infallible pope had the dead body 
of his infallible predecessor dug up from the grave, 
and tried, found guilty, condemned, and his corpse 
thrown into the River Tiber. We might give several 
other instances similar to this one, but the present ex- 
ample is sufficient to show that one or other of these 
popes taught error, perhaps both, and in either case that 
infallibility could not rest in either of them. 

Let us pass on to a view of their moral attributes, 
and refer the reader to the indisputable authenticity 
of Draper, who says, speaking of some of the popes 



192 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

in his history of the "Intellectual Development of 
Europe": ''The eyes of Pope Constantine were put 
out by Stephen, acting in Christ's place. The tongue 
of the Biship Theodorus was amputated by the man who 
had been substituted for God. The bishop w^as left in a 
dungeon to perish of thirst. Pope Leo III. was seized 
in the street and forced into a church, where the nephews 
of Pope Adrian attempted to put out his eyes, and cut 
off his tongue. His successor, Stephen V., was driven 
ignominiously from Rome. His successor. Paschal I., 
was accused of blinding and murdering two ecclesiastics 
in the Lateran Palace. John VIIL, unable to~ resist the 
Mohammedans, was compelled to pay them tribute. At 
this time the bishop of Naples was in secret alHance with 
the Mohammedans, and they divided with the Catholic 
bishop* the plunder they collected from other Catholics. 
This bishop was excommunicated by the pope. After- 
wards he gave him absolution because he betrayed the 
chief Mahommedans and assassinated others. There 
was an ecclesiastical conspiracy to murder the pope, and 
some of the treasures of the church were seized, and the 
gate of St. Pancrazia was opened with false keys to ad- 
mit the Saracens. Formosus, who had been engaged in 
these transactions, had been excommunicated as a con- 
spirator for the murder of St. John, was himself elected 
pope in 891. Boniface YI. was his successor. He had 
been deposed from the diaconate and from the priest- 
hood for his immoral and lewd life. Stephen YII. was 
the next pope, and he had the dead body of Formosus 
taken from the grave, clothed in papal habiliments, 
propped up in a chair and tried before a council. The 
corpse was found guilty, three fingers were cut off and 
the body cast into the Tiber. Afterwards Stephen VII. 
this vicar of Christ, was thrown into prison and strangled. 
From A. D. 896 to 900 five popes were consecrated. 
Leo V. in less than two months after he became pope 
was cast into prison by Christopher, one of his chaplains. 
This Christopher usurped his place, and in a little wiiile 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 193 

was expelled from Rome by Sergius III., who became 
pope in 905. This pope lived in criminal intercourse 
with the celebrated Theodora, and Avith her daughters, 
Marioza and Theodora, both prostitutes, exercised an 
extraordinary control over him? The love of Theodora 
was also shared by John X. She gave him the arch- 
bishopric of Ravenna, and made him pope in A. D. 915. 
The daughter of Theodora overthrew the pope. She 
surprised him in the Lateran Palace. His brother, Peter, 
was killed; the pope was thrown into prison, where he 
was afterwards murdered. Afterward this Marioza, 
daughter of Theodora, made her own son pope, John 
XL Many apprehended that Pope Sergius was his 
father, but his mother inclined to attribute him to her 
husband, Alberic, whose brother, Guido, she afterward 
married. Another of her sons, Alberic, jealous of his 
brother, John, the pope, cast him and their mother into 
prison. 

"Alberic's son was then elected pope as John XII. 
John was 19 years old when he became the vicar of 
Christ. His reign was characterized by the most shock- 
ing immoralties, so that the Emperor, Otho L, was com- 
pelled by the German clergy to interfere. He was tried. 
It appeared that John received bribes for the consecra- 
tion of bishops, that he had ordained one who was only 
10 years old, that he was charged with incest, and with 
so many adulteries that the Lateran Palace had become 
a brothel. 

"He put out the eyes of one ecclesiastic, he maimed 
another, both dying in consequence of their injuries. 
He w^as given to drunkenness and gambling. He w^as 
deposed at last and Leo VII. elected in his stead. Sub- 
sequently he got the upper hand. He seized his antag- 
onists; he cut off the hand of one, the nose of another, 
fingers and the tongue of others. His life was eventually 
brought to an end by the vengeance of a man whose 
wife he had seduced." 

In China, Japan or dark Africa could any criminals 



194 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

be found more cruel, more wanton and diabolical in 
wickedness than those notorious popes, calling themselves 
vice regents of the meek and humble Jesus, who, while 
on earth, went about doing good to all and evil to none. 
Oh, what blasphemy and sacrilege to the Lord and Sav- 
iour to attribute to such men Christ's attributes and 
sanctity! The ministry of Christ was one of love, sym- 
pathy and pardon, even to those who persecuted him 
and put him to death. He never raised the sword 
against his bitterest enemy, but prayed for them, "Pray, 
Father, forgive them." He commanded his followers to 
love one another, that the world might know they were 
his disciples. "By their fruits," said He, "ye shall know 
them." But these popes have outdone "Jack, the 
Ripper," for they have perpetrated while occupying the 
chair of Peter the greatest crimes that could be com- 
mitted. These bloodthirsty, human tigers tore out the 
entrails from one another, committed mayhem, incest, 
murder and all manner of torture. Is it possible to 
think for a moment that such villains could be holy, in- 
fallible vicars of Christ while doing the devil's work and 
leading souls to eternal destruction? 

Ask yourself, dear reader, were these barbarous and 
murderous popes led by the spirit of God or the spirit 
of the Evil One? How could these cruel monsters be 
successors of the blessed Apostles, and infallible mouth- 
pieces of the lowly Saviour? Yet they are believed to 
be such by all consistent Roman Catholics. The blessed 
Apostle tells us that "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 
6). The Psalmist says: "The wicked shall be turned 
mto hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Ps. 9:17). 
If the wicked shall go to hell certainly these popes will 
occupy the lowest quarters in that land of woe. "Upon 
the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and 
tempest. This shall be the portion of their cup" (Ps. 
11:6). 

The historian quoted continues: "Pope John XIII. 
was strangled in prison. Boniface VII. imprisoned 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 195 

Benedict VII., and starved him to death. John XIV. was 
secretly put to death in the dungeons of the castle of St. 
Angelo. The corpse of Boniface was dragged by the 
populace through the streets; Pope John XVI. was 
seized, his eyes put out, his nose cut off, his tongue torn 
from his mouth, and he was sent through the streets 
mounted on an ass with his face to the tail. Benedict 
IX., a boy of less than 12 years of age, was raised to the 
Apostolic throne. One of his successors declared that 
the life of Benedict w^as so shameful, so foul, so execrable, 
that he shuddered to describe it. He ruled like a cap- 
tain of a banditti. The people, unable to bear longer 
his adulteries, his homicides and his abominations, rose 
against him, and in despair at maintaining his position 
he put up the papacy at auction. It was bought by a 
presbyter named John, who became Gregory VI. in the 
year 1045. Well may we ask, were these the vice- 
gerents of God upon earth — these who had truly reached 
the goal beyond which the last effort of human wicked- 
ness cannot pass?" 

To claim infallibility for these incarnate devils of 
popes and teach that they are the lawful successors of 
the Apostles is an outrage against the name of him, at 
the mention of whose name every knee should bend in 
heaven, on earth and under the earth — the holy name of 
Jesus, against whom they blaspheme. But this is what 
the Romish church teaches that these imps of h — 1 are 
the true successors of the holy Apostles and vicars of 
Christ on earth. To claim that they were anything else 
than real popes would break Rome's chain of the in- 
fallible popedom, and this she is reluctant to do. 

It is pretty hard to swallow a pope like John XI., 
the bastard son of Pope Serous III., a villain elected 
pope by his prostitute mother, Marioza. But Rome 
prefers to indorse him rather than forfeit Apostolic suc- 
cession and an unbroken line of pontiffs. She has also 
accepted Pope Stephen VII., who had the corpse of Pope 
Formosus raised fi'om the grave, his fingers cut off, tried 



1 



196 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

for heresy and his skeleton condemned to the waters of 
the Tiber. If this Pope Stephen was infallible then 
Formosus was fallible, and if one of the popes is fal- 
lible then infallibility is no prerogative of the Romish 
church. 

Would one's salvation not be more secure to be en- 
trusted to the real head of the church — Jesus Christ, 
w^ho promises to be with it all days, even unto the end 
of time? Christ is the founder and head of His church. 
He has given His holy word, the Bible, to be its rule of 
faith and morals, and promises to lead every obedient, 
faithful, believing Christian into all truth, and preserve 
him therein by the guidance of His holy Spirit. There 
can be no risks taken by accepting Jesus Christ at His 
word, and taking His word and Holy Spirit as our in- 
fallible rule and standard. But everything is risked, 
temporal and eternal, when we place the keeping of our 
faith and morals to monsters of iniquity, ecclesiastical 
criminals nourished and nursed on the laps of public 
prostitutes, and trust into the papacy by theft, intrigue, 
perjury and the sword — ruffians called popes of Rome. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 197 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Ignorance, the Mother of Devotion and the V. M. 

Roman Catholics perform many devotions to the 
Virgin Mary. To her they pray hundreds of times for 
once to God. To her they repeat strings of beads, on 
which one prayer is addressed to God and ten to Mary. 
Ten "Ave Marias" for one "Pater Noster." Then she is 
worshipped with the scapulars at Saturday and Wednes- 
day novenas; and all this worship is performed without 
thinking for a moment that the Virgin Mary is unable 
to hear prayers, much less grant the requests. 

Every person who entertains any true conception of 
God must acknowledge that He is God over all. That 
He is Infinite, One, Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omni- 
present. But an Infinite, Omniscient and Omnipresent 
Being excludes the very idea of another infinite creature. 
It is a contradiction in terms. An Omnipresent God, 
present through all the universe, and seeing and know- 
ing all things, prevents necessarily another being fi'om 
filling similar space and knowing all things? The Virgin 
Mary is finite. God is infinite. Mary is not Omni- 
scient, that is, she does not know all things, for the rea- 
sons already given. 

Since Mary is finite, she cannot be in more places 
than one at the same time, hence it is absurd to expect 
her to hear different prayers in different places. Sup- 
pose the Roman Catholics of Italy who still remain 
faithful to the pope, and they are but comparatively few, 
pray to the Madonna to deliver them from this or that 
affliction; and suppose the Roman Catholics of Ireland 
are praying to her at the same time to intercede for 
them to obtain home rule and bless the soil with fertile 
crops of potatoes and oats; suppose the Spanish Catho- 
lics of Chile and Peru are praying her to hear them in 
their various supplications and grant their requests, how 
can she hear these except she is able to be in all places and 



198 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

every part thereof at the same time. But she is not. 
If she could be omnipresent she would be God in that 
respect, and supplant the Infinite and Sovereign Lord of 
all. If John Smith, of Dublin, prays to Mary to grant 
a request, and John McCarty, of New York, prays also 
for a special favor from Mary, she is unable to hear 
them because not ubiquitous. God only is everywhere 
at the same time, filling all space and every atom thereof 
with His Divine Presence. ''In Him we live, move and 
have our being." He is, therefore, present with ever}^ 
particle of our physical and spiritual nature. He per- 
vades the universe at the same moment, and it is He 
only who knows us, sees our thoughts and understands 
the motions of the heart before being expressed. But 
Mary cannot do this, because she is a finite creature, 
limited in power, as every other created being. Hence 
it is lost time to pray to her for aid. She is unconscious 
of our wants. She is not changed by death, and knows 
no more now about our desires than when on this earth. 
But while Mary was on earth and walked with her 
Divine Son she knew nothing of the desires and prayers 
of petitioners who were absent; nay even the where- 
abouts of Jesus she did not know. When she lost him 
on the way from Jerusalem she sought him for the 
space of three days, asking those she met did they see 
her son, Jesus of Nazareth. If she could be omnipres- 
ent she would be so then, and would have known where 
her son was. She and Joseph would not have gone sor- 
rowing in search of their lost child. She did not know 
what was occurring in her absence; she does not now 
know. It is ignorance of God's laws, spiritual and 
natural, that causes such a large amount of devotion to 
be offered to Mary. Ignorance is universally the mother 
of such devotion. 

Let us see some of the blind devotion to Mary: "O 
Mary, Most Holy Mother, I give myself to thee without 
reserve, do thou accept and preserve me." ''Oh, mother 
of God, thou art omnipotent to save sinners." "Holy 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 199 

Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at 
the hour of our death." "Oh, most loving Advocate, 
sweet Advocate." "Thou art my hope, thou alone canst 
help me." "Through thee we have been reconciled to 
God. Thou art the salvation of the whole world." See 
Glories of Mary for many other similar prayers, also the 
breviary of the priests. 

Who made these prayers? They did not come from 
the Almighty. They have no sanction from Jesus Christ 
.or His inspired Word. Christ never taught us to pray 
to Mary; on the contrary he left her altogether out in 
that beautiful prayer, "Our Father, Who art in heaven," 
etc. This form of prayer the Lord gave us. It is called 
the Lord's Prayer. The prayers to the Virgin Mary are 
given us by Eome and her agents. Rome gave the 
"Hail, Mary," and the "Holy Mary, Mother of God, 
pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death." 
The Apostles made no prayers to Mary, which they 
would have done had it been the will of God. St. 
Stephen, when dying, wonld have invoked her interces- 
sion if it were lawful. But he did not mention Mary in 
his entreaty, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Rome 
calls Mary our "Advocate." The sacred Scripture calls 
Jesus Christ our "Advocate." "If any man sin we 
have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
Righteous" (1 John 2:1). • Rome makes Mary a media- 
tor between God and man. The Scriptures say there is 
but one Intercessor. "For there is but one God and one 
Mediator between God and men, the man. Christ Jesus" 
(1 Tim. 2:5). 

Rome calls Mary "our Hope, and only Hope," but 
the Woi-d of God declares that "Christ Jesus is our 
Hope" (1 Tim. 1:1). Rome made the prayer, "O most 
pure Virgin Mary, I worship thy most holy heart." The 
Scriptures command, us to adore and serve the Lord, 
"The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and Him only shalt 
thou serve" (Matt. 4:10). 

If Mary were able to hear all these petitions, no- 



200 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

venas, beads, scapular prayers and little offices, she 
could grant no favor whatever. "Cursed be the man * 
that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and 
whose heart departeth from the Lord." "And now 
what is my Hope? Is it not the Lord?" Now, if hope 
is to be put only in the Lord, and if trusting in creatures 
is resting on an arm of flesh, it is absurd to expect any 
aid from Mary or through her intercession. 

If there be any merit in the numerous prayers of- 
fered to Mary, and if all superabundant merits of prayer, 
not used, go into the pope's treasury, to be again 
given out to the faithful people in indulgences, the papal 
treasury must be inexhaustible, for the prayers said to 
Mary and never utilized by her are as numerous as the 
sands on the seashore. That may be why the church 
never has her coffers empty of indulgences, though often 
empty of coin. "Amen, amen. I say to you, if you ask 
the Father anything in My name He will give it you." 
All these quotations are taken from the Roman Catholic 
Bible, and show how even that version condemns the 
whole mediatorial plan of salvation laid down by the 
Roman Catholic church. 

The Virgin Mary is honored by all Christians in their 
memory because of her exemplary life and many humble 
virtues, but they believe the best way to respect her and 
perpetuate fond remembrance of her is to obey the law 
of her Son, and keep His Word. That Word says: 
"Woman, what have I to do with thee?" "Who is My 
mother, and who are My brethern?" "Behold My mother 
and My brethern," said Christ to His disciples. We are 
all his mother and his brethern now if we obey the 
Gospel. Christ calls Mary at the foot of the cross, not 
mother, but "woman," and recommends her to St. John. 
But would Christ have thus committed a woman to the 
custody of St. John if that woman were His divine 
motner in the Romish sense, with all power from above 
to help, to protect and to save? No, on the contrary, he 
would have declared her divine prerogatives and com- 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 201 

mitted to her St. John and all the disciples. 

It is nothing short of idolatry to worship Mary, but 
Roman Catholics worship her, and are taught to do so, 
as ah'eady shown in this chapter. 

The Immacnlate Conception of Mary, made a new 
doctrine of the church and an article of faith by Pope 
Pius IX. on December 8, 1854, exalts her above all the 
race, and the fact of the alleged Assumption makes her 
a Saviour, and invokes her as such. 

God is a debtor to no man, but the Roman church 
makes Him a debtor to Mary, for she teaches in her 
Glories of Mary thus: "In taking flesh in your chaste 
womb God has been pleased to become your debtor, in 
order to place afterwards at your disposal all the treas- 
ures of your unbounded mercy. We hope for grace and 
salvation from you, and since you need but say the word, 
ah, do so; you shall be heard and we shall be saved." 
If this is not putting Mary in the place of Jesus Christ, 
the only Saviour, and looking to her for salvation, I do 
not understand common language. 

Let us quote again fi'om Rome's doctrine on Mary: 
"All the earth doth worship thee, the spouse of the 
Eternal Father. All the angels and archangels, all 
thrones and powers, do faithfully serve thee. To thee 
all the angels cry aloud with a never-ceasing voice. Holy, 
holy, holy, Mary, Mother of God. Thou sittest with thy 
Son on the right hand of the Father. In thee. Sweet 
Mother, is our hope; defend us for evermore; praise be- 
cometh thee; empire becometh thee; virtue and glory be 
unto thee for ever and ever." Is this not teaching and 
practising rank idolatry? Is this not blasphemy? Yes, 
most assuredly. Every time the priest says his divine 
ofllce, and some omit their office as often as they recite 
it, he blasphemes against God by supplanting His sacred 
name by Mary's. The priest frequently blasphemes and 
swears and curses as a man in the world. I knew a 
priest who lustily swore in public, and when I asked 
him why he swore so on the streets I was not a little 



202 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

astonished by his reply: "Oh, I swear because I want to 
be like Protestants." I learned from experience with 
the man afterwards that he was candid in his statement 
on this point, for he measured all Protestants, Christ- 
tians and otherwise, by a half a dozen notorious swearers, 
gamblers and drinkers. He thought it, therefore, un- 
popular to be too much "like a priest" in company with 
Protestants. The priest also blasphemes and curses when 
intoxicated, but on none of these occasions does his blas- 
phemy exceed that uttered while reciting his daily office, 
in which he invokes Mary_as his mother, interceder and 
saviour. In fact, the priest puts Mary above her Divine 
Son, as to power in saving sinners, for he says: "Oh, 
most holy Mother, by the right of a mother, command 
thy most holy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that he 
vouchsafe to raise our minds from the love of earthly 
things to heavenly desires who liveth and reigneth one 
God, world without end." 

The effect of worship of Mary is hardening on the 
soul of the Avorshipper. It begets a sort of mechanical, 
outward, formal piety that has no causal stimulus within. 
The soul of Mary's worshippers is like the armature in 
the dynamo without the magnets; no real holiness is 
born in the heart, because of the absence of the drawing 
and generating spirit of God. The more ignorant the 
person may be the more of this devotion to the Virgin. 
Many intelligent Roman Catholics pray comparatively 
little to the Virgin. That is done generally by those 
who never went to school or learned the alphabet. 
Beads and rosaries have become almost synonymous 
with ignorance and superstition. For my own exper- 
ience teaches me that while I can approach compara- 
tively educated Romanists, many of whom knew me 
when a priest, and went often to confession to me, I can 
never succeed in a presentation of the gospel to women 
who carry daily the strings of beads by their side and 
the scapulars on the shoulder. Their blind devotion to 
Mary and her images makes them as solid as marble to 



Fipeeii Years Behmd the Curtains. 203 

the beauties of the glorious gospel of Jesus. They can- 
not even look straight at you, so metamorphosed are 
they in superstition. I have known men to come and tell 
me that when going into the slums to commit a "mortal 
sin" they left off their beads and scapulars, so as not to 
detract from their power to bless and grant indulgences 
to the wearer. This is what is called in Romish morality 
a "pious sinner," and he is, for he looks as pious after 
his sin as he did before. The man who robbed and 
murdered his companion, but refused to eat the meat 
from his lunch basket because it was Friday, is another 
instance of the "pious sinner" and the devotee of the 
holy rosary. Long before I left Rome I lost confidence 
in those who spent much of their time counting "Pater 
and Aves" on the beads, and kneeling with their head 
reclining on the shoulder before tlie statues of the Virgin 
Mary. The one who goes to confession, and that steals 
on his way to and from the church, is another species of 
the genus, "pious fraud." Don't tell me that worship 
of Mary helps to elevate these poor, ignorant devotees. 
It annihilates the true desire to believe in the Lord 
Jesus Christ and repent of sin. It begets a selfishness 
and a sense of self-sanctification by performing some 
works or some prayers, that is fatal to the implanting in 
the heart of the real spiritual life. When a person be- 
lieves that he can settle the account of his enormous 
sins and notorious crimes by reciting, so many days, 
prescribed prayers before an image of the Holy Virgin, 
he is sure to increase in wickedness and repeat his 
transgressions with renew^ed proclivity and peace of 
conscience. 

It multiplies a hundred times over the inducements 
and excuses to relapse into sin. It does not cost much to 
kneel before a statue of marble, wood or stone, and say 
a few prayers daily or Aveekly, especially when the 
premiums held out often include 150 years of indul- 
gences. See indulgences in another chapter. 

Away then, I would honestly say to my readers, 



201 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

away once for all, with beads, scapulars and the count- 
ing of the "Paters and Aves," and turn to the spiritual 
source of light and grace and life, the Lord Jesus 
Christ. "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the 
uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever 
liveth to make intercession for them." (Heb. 7:25.). 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 205 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Rome's Loyalty to Amekican Institutions. 

No one who believes that a foreign priest is supreme, 
and an infallible judge in faith and morals, and swears 
to him absolute allegiance, can ever become a loyal citi- 
zen of the United States, without first renouncing his 
foreign allegiance. But Roman Catholics believe that 
the pope of Rome is supreme both in state and church, 
and an infallible teacher in faith and morals. 

The loyal American citizen believes that supreme 
power is in the civil government, and that such power 
naturally comes from the people, and not from any 
church or constituted ecclesiastical authority. But the 
Roman Catholic doctrine holds that all government is 
" by the grace of God," that is, that all power comes 
from God, and as the pope is the vicegerent of Christ, 
and made the receptacle of this power and authority, 
his teaching and ruling in emergencies and conflicts of 
church and state must be recognized as infallible and 
final. If the legislature of the church, therefore, make 
a law, and the Roman Pontiff give his signature thereto, 
such a law is binding on the consciences of all Roman 
Catholics, and is to be received as superior to laws 
framed by states and nations. The papal endorsement 
of ecclesiastical enactments makes them laws of God, on 
the ground that church law is of God, while civil law is 
of man. Therefore, the bulls and teachings of the pope 
to the universal church are above all national and inter- 
national law. If a law of nations be found in conflict 
with a law of the pope, the former must give way to 
the latter, according to that general ecclesiastical prin- 
ciple which thus reads: "All laws that are contrary 
to the canons and decrees of the Roman prelates are 
null and void." As every Roman Catholic promises 
solemnly in baptism through sponsors, and after coming 
to the use of reason, to obey the church first and last, 



206 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

and OAve allegiance to its visible head on earth, he never 
can renounce that solemn oath, except he renounce 
his religion. This is the solemn profession of every 
Romanist: ''I acknowledge the Holy Roman, Catholic, 
Apostolic church for the mother and mistress of all 
churches, and I promise ^ true obedience ' forever to the 
Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, prince of the 
Apostles, and vicar of Jesus Christ." The " true obedi- 
ence " is far reaching, and means not only faith in Rome, 
but unquestioned submission to death in defence of the 
Roman Pontiff, or his cause. 

No loyal Roman Catholic can, therefore, swear in 
his heart allegiance to American principles, for they are 
directly opposed to those of Rome. No loyal Roman 
Catholic can owe true obedience to the second section 
of the sixth article of the Constitution of the United 
States, which says: " This Constitution and the laws of 
the United States which shall be made in pursuance 
thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, 
under the authority of the United States, shall be the 
supreme law of the lai^d; and the judges in every state 
shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or 
laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding." The 
Roman Catholic is not a free being; he is bound by an 
opposite law of his church, w^hich says: " The church 
is not to accommodate her legislation to suit any king, 
prince or state." Roman Catholicism is, therefore, by 
its inherent laws diametrically opposed to the funda- 
mental principles on which American institutions are 
founded. Rome's constitution has the same affinity for 
the Constitution of the United States that oil has for 
water. 

The Constitution of the United States advocates the 
equality of all before the law, and grants to every one 
liberty of conscience to worship God according to the 
dictates of his conscience. But the Roman Catholic 
church condemns this doctrine as dangerous, unholy and 
Satanic, to be contended against by every loyal Romanist. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 207 

She asserts her pregrogatire to punish those who uphold 
such liberal views, and has long since emphasized this 
belief by putting to the stake and the chain those who 
denied her faith and embraced the gospel of Christ. 

The common schools of the tjnited States she has 
cursed, and excommunicated those who patronize them. 
She has denounced them as ^' hot beds of vice " to entrap 
children of Romanists and make them vagabonds. 

The disloyalty of Romanists to American institu- 
tions is founded on the nature of their loyalty to their 
church and its laws. When that church teaches that 
she has received the right, and never lost it, to annul 
laws, treaties, oaths, obligations, constitutions, and all 
sorts of prescriptive rights, and absolve from obedience 
to civil laws, as soon as discovered that these laws are 
detrimental to the rights of the church, there is no room 
for loyalty to any government that does not harmonize 
with the ecclesiastical government. How can there be 
true loyalty, when behind it rests the consciousness that 
the church in its temporal head can absolve from all 
vows, oaths of allegiance, contracts, civil and religious ? 
How can we expect allegiance and obedience to the civil 
laws, when the church teaches that her laAvs are from 
God, and the civil laws are from man ? 

Protestant goveriiments, and all governments not 
Roman Cotholic, are denominated "heretical" by Rome's 
canons; therefore no government that is not Roman is 
not sure of the allegiance of its subjects. " No faith is 
to be kept with heretics," is still on the statute books. 
Rome never changed them, because she is unchangeable 
in faith and doctrine; but this is alwa^^s her faith and 
doctrine. Every bishop swears that he will not only not 
keep faith with heretics, but that he will persecute them 
by all the means within his power. In his oath at con- 
secration to the episcopacy, among other words are these 
in literal English: " Heretics, schismatics against our 
said Lord the Pope, or his successor, 1 will to my utmost 
persecute and oppose." 



208 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

The fact of believing that the pope is supreme in 
spiritual power, and that he can absolve from all treason, 
insurrections, rebellions and perjuries, makes Roman 
Catholics unfit to be loyal citizens to any government on 
earth. Every Roman Catholic must believe that the 
pope has not only power, unlimited, to pardon all man- 
ner of sins and crimes, but also that he has, in virtue 
thereof, power to excommunicate, curse, interdict, anathe- 
matize, depose, dethrone and expatriate kings, presidents, 
queens and princes. But any one who conscientiously 
believes in this, and yields implicit obedience to the 
spiritual prince at Rome who claims this prerogative, 
can, under no circumstances, be a true American citizen, 
all oaths of allegiance to our government and naturaliza- 
tion papers to the contrary. Suppose the pope declared 
war against the United States for some real or imaginary 
insult, ofiered to his excellency, Cardinal Satolli, and 
sent forth a papal bull exonerating all Romanists in 
these States from their oath of allegiance to the general 
government; whom would Catholics obey, the spiritual 
prince on the Tiber, or the secular President at Wash- 
ington ? With whom would they keep faith, Leo the 
Thirteenth, or Grover Cleveland ? They could not in an 
emergency owe allegiance to two supreme powers. They 
could not keep two pledges, no more than the Irishman 
who at one time took two pledges to abstain from intox- 
icating liquor. He took one from the judge, and another 
from the priest. His wife Peggy remonstrated, saying: 
"How can you keep two pledges, Pat?" '^Begorra," 
said Pat, " I will keep the one I made to the priest, any- 
way." So Roman Catholics, at least ninety-five per cent, 
of them, would keep their pledge to the pope of Rome. 
The Roman Catholic who comes from abroad, and de- 
clares his intentions to become a citizen of the United 
States, never renounces his allegiance to the pope; but 
this he ought to do, in order to be a consistent citizen 
and not perjure himself; for the alien to become a citi- 
zen " must make oath to renounce forever all allegiance 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 209 

and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or 
sovereignty whatsoever." His oath to the sovereignty 
of Rome is the original one. It is perpetual and un- 
changeable; therefore all subsequent oaths are vj!>6r> /r/c'/i? 
null and void. 

In their profession of faith to the Romish church, 
the people are not to be blamed so much as pitied. Of 
its significance, at the time, they are ignorant. For 
binding them with such a rigorous oath, the papal system 
is responsible. Bound by this unchangeable oath the 
people have no alternative, as long as the}^ wish to re- 
main Roman Catholics. Besides, the larger portion of 
Ruman Catholics are taught from infancy, that " once a 
Romanist, always a Romanist." That once a subject of 
his holiness, always a subject, because his jurisdiction is 
not territorial so much as it is personal. If the state 
should, therefore, come in contact with the church in 
any country where resides a Roman Catholic, to be con- 
sistent that Catholic must obey the pope. If the church 
condemn the public schools, then must the members of 
that church condemn them. If the church decree that 
the Irish or German lanoruao^e must be tauofht Catholic 
children in the schools, then Catholics must by all means 
fight for the execution of the will of the foreign poten- 
tate. In various parts of our country, there is sufficient 
evidence of this obedience to papal orders. 

The pope is paving the way in this country for the 
carrying out of his orders to the letter. He has divided 
and subdiAdded these United States into archbishoprics, 
bishoprics, the same as if it were Italy. He has papal 
generals standing over Roman armies in all our large 
cities. Look at Baltimore; there is his lo^^al and royal 
" Eminence, Cardinal Gibbons," towering over arch- 
bishops, bishops, priests and people, in touch with the 
papal commander-in-chief in Italy. In Washington, 
right at the seat of our general government, stands an- 
other cardinal, above and over the original cardinal, 
looking from ocean to ocean, and carefully surveying 



210 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

the field for the extension of papal arms. In the 
metropolis of New York, we have another papal digni- 
tary with the euphonious title, " His Grace, Arclibishop 
Corrigan." We have similar pontifical generals and 
sab-generals in Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincin- 
nati, and every large city in the land. What does this 
all mean in case of the introduction of canon law to the 
country ? What does it denote, in case of an appeal to 
might to vindicate the honor of the Holy Apostolic See ? 
If the pope w^ere to fulminate his anathemas against our 
government, and excommunicate the President thereof, 
what think you would be the attitude of Roman satel- 
lites % They would certainly see that it was executed, 
and that the " heretic" would be brought to do penance. 
Perhaps the reader may say there' is no danger of that 
now; that there is no eruption, and the days of deposing 
presidents are past. They may be past for a time. 
But it must be remembered that Rome is now deprived 
of temporal power, of armies, navies and money. The 
pope is not inclined to issue excommunications, as of 
yore, except by his spiritual power. But suppose he 
recover these from Italy, or elsewhere; the law of the 
church remains the same, and his holiness would then 
take a hand at deposing rulers who disobey his law. He 
would demand Catholics to withdraw their allegiance 
from every one they could bring to the dust. 

Leo the Thirteenth would do to-day to the rulers of 
some countries that have insulted him, what his brother 
pope, Pius the Fifth, did to Queen Elizabeth of England — 
depose them, and order the subjects to disobey them. 
Here are the words used by Pius the Fifth in his cere- 
mony over Elizabeth: "We declare her to be deprived 
of her pretended title to this kingdom, and of all domin- 
ion, dignity and privilege whatsoever. "" ^' "^" And 
we do command and interdict all and every, the noble- 
men, subjects, people, and others aforesaid, that they 
presume not to obey her. or her monitions, mandates 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 211 

and laws; and those that shall do the contrary we do 
innodate Avith the like sentence of anathema." 

It is the unwavering belief of nearly all Roman 
Catholics in the pope, as supreme ruler above the secular 
sovereigns, able to excommunicate and banish them, that 
warrants us in saying that they cannot be loyal subjects 
to any government on earth. 



212 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Priest's Conversation With Females in the Con- 
fessional. 

Very little of the conversation of priests with 
women and yonng girls in the confessional is fit for 
publication in a book of this kind. It is too low and im- 
moral. To print such stuff here would consign the book 
to prohibited literature, and stop its circulation in Penn- 
sylvania. It seems inconsistent with the laws of com- 
mon morality to prevent the sale of a book treating in 
English on the questions that are put to penitents by the 
priest, and at the same time permit the same to be sold 
and circulated in Latin from Catholic book stores, and 
even in the vernacular tongue in Catholic prayer books. 
Any young man or woman who desires to read the 
"table of sins" in the large Catholic mission book may 
have access to it in the stores. Young people may also 
purchase St. Liguori's moral theology, or Den's theology, 
both of which works will open the eyes of the reader, if 
he or she understands Latin, to the terrible nature of the 
sickening filth that is there revealed. 

Several of our young men and women can now read 
the Latin language, and may purchase these unclean 
books from any first class Roman Catholic book store. It 
seems not right to allow any book store handle these 
works, and the table of sins in. English, if they come 
under the head of obscene literature. But they do come 
under the headings of immoral literature, and yet their 
sale and distribution by Roman Catholics are not 
prohibited. 

I will, therefore, have to necessarily pass over the 
priest's questioning of his male and female penitents on 
the catalogue of sins under the department: De Adtd- 
terio^ Incestu^ Sacriligio^ Sodomiia^ Pollittione^ Forni- 
cMione^ Bestlalitate^ Defloratione Itaptii^ Abortione, 
Homicidio YoluntchTio^ Sirrtonia^ Consanguinltate, 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 213 

Restituendo jii^ amissura^ Disjpensando cimi aliquihus 
jjlures iixores hahentibus^ Dlspensando in higamia et 
hoinicidio. 

The young priest about to be ordained is instructed 
and prepared for questioning men and women, boys and 
girls in the above sins. Here follows some of the instruc- 
tion from Roman Catholic theolog}^ : "It is of import- 
ance that the confessor should have before his mind, as 
if in a map, the various sins of this nature in order that 
he may lead on his penitent in an orderly way through 
the confession of them, according as the penitent will re- 
quire his assistance. If along with this he has furnished 
himself with a vocabulary of suitable expressions he will 
find his task greatly facilitated, so that question will fol- 
low question in his mind without-almost thinking of it, 
as in every other concern where memory and habit con- 
duct us in what we are doing." The catalogue of sins 
are classified for the confessor thus: First catalogue, 
Peccata luzuriae contra naturmn conmimmata. 

"The confessor is to interrogate the penitent and 
urge her to explain the specific nature of the sins. He 
may first proceed to words and acts, and then to thoughts, 
clesires and pleasures. What occurred exteriorly in 
words and acts is the best explanation of what happened 
in the mind of the penitent. 

"Do you remember any young men to speak im- 
modestly when in company with you? How often? Did 
they speak only one immodest word, or were they all the 
time usinof this language? Did you take pleasure in 
such conversation? In what position to one another were 
you seated? Did any other persons see or hear you? 
How often? 

"Did you look on persons of the opposite sex ex- 
hibiting themselves in an indecent manner? Did you 
allow any one to press himself against you? How often? 
The same person, or others? What kind of acts have 
you permitted with others? Were they single or mar- 
ried; relations or strangers to you? Did ever you find 



214 Fiftee7i Years Behind the Curtai?is. 

yourself thinking with yourself about immodest things? 
Did you take pleasure in them? Do you sleep alone, or 
have you a sister or brother? Be sure now and think a 
little before you speak. If the confessor cannot draw 
out the penitent say to her can't I help you along by 
asking some more things which may have escaped your 
attention? Tell me your worst sin against holy purity." 
The priest here goes into sins contra naturara of both 
sexes that hardly ever fail to teach, the young things 
they ought not to know, and instil into the heart poison 
that hopelessly pollutes the soul. A Protestant young 
man said to me while a priest in the Catholic church, "I 

would marry Miss only she goes to confession, 

and has to think, and talk on subjects to the priest that 
unfit her to be my wife." At that time though loyal to 
the duties of the church I conceded inwardly the truth 
of the young man's assertion. He loved this young 
Catholic lady of my church dearly, but after learning the 
nature of the sins, the laws of the church required her 
to meditate on, to make an examination of conscience be- 
fore going to the confessional box, he would not Aved 
her. He went away and the last I heard of him was that 
he was married to a young lady of the Presbyterian 
church, and both were happy. 

''Have you allowed young men to kiss you^ How? 
On what part? Have you gone alone with him any 
w^here after that? Where and what w^as his conversa- 
tion to you ; and what sort of pleasure did you take in it, 
and how long? Don't be bashful, tell me, your ghostly 
father, all that took place. The devil tempts you now 
to conceal what you were not ashamed then to commit. 
If the young lady seems to hesitate here, let the con- 
fessor ask her, and press the matter thus; have you to 
confess that liberty has been taken with you out and 
out. Then if an affirmative answer be given, the priest 
must still press the case by asking has it become a habit 
with you both, and if so, how many days, months or 
years? The confessor then in case of discovering that 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 215 

habitual sin did really exist between the parties, must say 
to the young woman, were you not afraid of proving 

from these sins ^ To your knowledge was there 

anything done on his part to prevent such an efiect. 

"Now let us go to the next matter, the confessor will 
say, as to lool's^ touches^ <&c., <&c.; tell me all and every 
thing you may have sinned against since you first came to 
the use of reason. Tell me all your past life with other 
little girls and boys, and your present life and thoughts 
and desires." 

It is easy to see dear reader, from this close exami- 
nation of the heart of a young lady l)y the priest, how he 
has such power over her for evil, when he desires to use 
it. The confessional puts him in such a position that he 
controls the whole woman, body, soul and spirit. He has 
only to command her affections, and his requests are 
obeyed. 

Many a young woman is put through an ordeal of 
the most disofustino^ crimes aoainst nature for no reason 
other than to satisfy the curiosity and gratif}' a devilish 
mania for asking such unmentionable sins." 

"It is necessary for the integrity of the sacrament 
of penance that the confessor ask young married people 
about their mutual duties to one another. He may say 
to the yoiing wife, do you and your husband agree about 
your mutual duties and relations to one another? If not, 
tell me your troubles, so that I may direct you in this 
sacred tribunal. 

Of penance. "Have you occasioned your husband 
great disappointment by refusing to him the conjugal 
rites aud debts, and give me the reason for your acting 
thus? Perhaps you had reason to refuse on account of 
going to the holy communion next morning; if so, it is 
well. Do you ever remember of anything wrong and 
unnatural in the manner in which the marriage duties 
were performed between you and your husband? If 
so, describe time, place and circumstances." How can 
any Catholic young woman frequenting the confes- 



216 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

sional retain delicacy of mind and purity of heart by 
compelling her to ponder over specific acts which for 
the sake of my readers and the character of this book I 
cannot here relate? 

Is it any wonder the sensual priest know^s the 
lambs of his flock to select a victim for the gratifica- 
tion of his beastly passions? He knows just how far 
he can go in that direction, and where he can make 
the successful attempt. If it were fairly known how 
much immorality and ruin of innocent and pure souls 
had its origin in the confessional, citizens would 
rise up to a man and protest against its existence in 
a Christian nation. But they don't know of its evil 
influence, except they went around by the mill and 
saw how the games are played and who gets left in 
the perilous experiments. They never lived behind the 
curtains and have no impressions other than the 
captivating landscapes and brilliant footlights that often 
present themselves to the audience. 

In the confessional the priest can be a devil and 
often is. He controls all who kneel before him. He 
knows it, and the penitents, young and old, concede 
to him this dominion. He has at his disposition the 
female in the box, her gold, her silver and real estate. 
This is more than her owm parents, brothers or sisters 
have. This is more than her own husband has. He 
can change wills and last testaments made by his 
penitents. He may order second, third and fourth 
wills made just as suits his own greed and interests. 
I have had too often experience of this kind of 
simony and rascality among my brother priests. A wife 
is unduly prevailed on to have a husband's last testament 
set aside, because he left nothing in his will to the 
church or to the priest for masses for his soul. She may 
often hesitate to obey, but as she has no inclination to 
die a "heretic," excommunicated from her church while 
alive here below, she, in almost every case, pays over to 
the church 2i.pro rata of the amount bequeathed to all 



Fiftecfi Years Behind the Curtains, 217 

purposes. When engaged in missionary work in the 
church of Rome not a few piously disposed persons sent 
for me when on my travels in their states, and made last 
wills in my presence with a civil judge testifying, in 
which they left often large sums for my benefit, and that 
of the work in which I was engaged. Nearly every time 
the local priest discovered the fact, he had the penitents 
during the few weeks some of them lived, go to him to 
confession, and rescind all former wills, and make a last 
will in which the writer was left out all together, and the 
last corfessor was bequeathed my amount. I learned 
this in several instances by writing to the local courts for 
the records. 

The priest's influence over the people begins with 
their birth, and often before they are born. 

His reverence helps the mother in bringing the joy 
of her life into the world. He is present with her in 
danger, for he is a self constituted physician, judge, con- 
fessor and representative of Christ. He is present on 
that momentous occasion, not so much to bring the un- 
born babe to the light of day, as to bri.r g it to the light 
of heaven, in case its natural birth is impossible. The 
mother, of course, believes that he can impart spiritual 
life to her unborn child by touching it with a single drop 
of water. It has been often a mystery to me, and is yet, 
that is, why Catholic mothers submit themselves and 
their ofi*spring to the bungling, inexperienced and 
ignorant operations of crude priests to the presence of 
scientific surgeons. I have known both mother and 
child to die in the hands of such men, when both could 
be easily saved if a physician had to be called in, and the 
priest and holy water discharged. But the superstitious 
belief that baptism gives the child everlasting life, and 
makes it a child of God causes the Catholic n;iother to 
send first for the priest, clown though he be, and second- 
ly for the medical doctor. 

As the child becomes an adult, it learns from parents 
and relatives that the priest is its spiritual father, and 



218 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

that he baptized it a Catholic, and that it never can be- 
come anything else but a Catholic. 

At marriage again the priest has the first place at 
the head of the table and pronounces the young couple 
man and wife, for better or for worse until death does 
them part. Marriage by any other minister, squire or 
judge is pronounced unlawful, in that it confers no 
sacrament, and consequently no grace. And as there is 
no salvation without sacraments, and it is only the priest 
who can administer legitimately the sacraments, he is all 
the time through the life of a Koman Catholic an in- 
dispensable factor. Then after marriage if mother is 
sick, or if baby is sick, they do not send for castoria, but 
for the priest. He is the great physician of body and 
soul, though of the anatomy of the one and the real ne- 
cessity of the other, it is difficult to find any class of men 
so ignorant as the generality of Roman Catholic priests. 
As a rule they are men who neglect study to an alarming 
degree. 

At death he does not forfeit his grasp on people. 
He follows them beyond the grave over to the dark and 
lonely departments of purgatory, where he reaches out to 
the soul by his masses, indulgences and holy offices, 
Those who give the priest money for masses during life 
for their souls when dead are thrice blessed, for on the 
authority of his reverence one holy mass, said for the 
living is worth a dozen said for the dead. It is certainly 
worth more to the priest in dollars and cents, and he has 
the satisfaction of knowing that he himself can enjoy these 
stipendiums while alive, and prevent another brother 
celebrant from ' 'scooping" all these offerings in as his 
successor. Such is the life of the priest, and it is a queer 
sort of life, and the life makes him a queer sort of man. 
Such are some of the causes of the priest's influences over 
his people. 

Priest's hours for retiring are very irregular, and it 
is partly owing to that fact that he is so irregular him- 
self. Some nights he may retire at 8 o'clock, other 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 219 

nights at 10 o'clock, and more nights at 2 or 3 o'clock in 
the morning. 

The reader may feel like asking what is he doing up 
to that time in the morning? Well nothing in particular 
for himself, but satan often has him engaged doing 
business for the interest of his kingdom, some friendly 
visitors are there, and as they having nothing to do satan 
puts them to card playing, drinking intoxicating bever- 
age, jpig in the parlor and blind marl's huff. 

In all my experience with the Roman Catholic 
clergy I never knew any of them to have a word of 
prayer before retiring. 

When intoxicated they are incapacitated to pray, 
and when sober they don't know. Prayer is not a part 
of the priest's life. Mechanical reading fi'om a ritual or 
prayer book is far from praying. But even this method 
is dispensed with, and in either case, the rev. fathers 
never have home worship. Some imbibing of hot spirits, 
some pinching of the gentler sex with a few steps of a 
fandango^ are about the last acts of the holy fathers be- 
fore committing themselves to rest. "Good night 
Nellie." "Happy dreams." I hope to see you well in 
the morning are among the last salutations that are fit to 
be here expressed. How can the spirit of Jesus abide in 
the breast of such characters. It is certain Christ has 
nothing to do with such ungrateful, unbelieving, unholy, 
carnal men. He cannot be with those whose hearts are 
devoid of prayer, love, obedience to his commandments. 

If they loved Christ and kept his commandments he 
would know them as his disciples, and come and abide 
with them. Their perpetual state of sinning is one of 
the surest signs that they never died unto sin, and 
consequently do not live unto God. It is a sure sign 
that thy do not deny themselves, take up their cross and 
follow Christ. Hence Christ knows them not. He will 
say on the last day to all such dry formal, nominal 
Christians: "Begone I know you not." 

Men, who profess Christ with the lips, while the 



220 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

heart wallows in carnal pleasure, who retire like brutes, 
and arise to say a mass on the holy altar are certainly in 
a state of condemnation. They say mass to satisfy a ten 
dollar intention of some member of the congregation, who 
thinks it may hasten the redemption of a deceased 
friend from purgatory. Were it not for that his rever- 
ence seeing his shadow would often return to his hole 
until the second angehts at noon. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 221 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
An Appeal to My Roman Catholic Friends. 

Most of you, I am aware, rest secure in the thought 
that the church has power to save you. At one time I 
thought so too. The church was everything to me. I 
lived for many years loyal to its teachings; I could not 
bear to hear anything said disrespectful of the church, or 
her priests, even when guilty of the most flagrant crimes. 
The teachings of the church required me to hear her 
commands, as coming from the one only true church on 
earth. These teachings forbade me to read the scriptures 
in view of searching for truth; to associate with Protes- 
tants in any way, lest I should be corrupted "in the 
faith." I obeyed these requirements in good faith. I 
absented myself from attendance at funerals of most 
worthy Protestant neighbors, lest I should be obliged to 
listen to Protestant services. For fifteen years I really 
lived "behind the curtains" in the dark of the true way 
of salvation. I could not see it. I could not consistently 
read the Bible for my own rule of faith ; nor could I teach 
it to my congregation and Sabbath school. The cate- 
chism and the commandments of the church supplanted 
it. They took the place of the Bible. They take the 
place of the scriptures to-day in the Roman Catholic 
church. You know it. 

I know it from sad experience. 

But one beautiful Sabbath morning, as the rays of 
the sun were shining through the bars of the confes- 
fessional, where I sat, forgiving sinners their sins, as 
they knelt before me, the rays of the Son of Justice 
shone into my heart, and I saw, as never before, the 
dangerous position of the confessor and the penitent. 
The penitent was a woman, and the moral matter pre- 
sented for pardon was such as I hope never again to be 
obliged to hear. The thought struck me: "Can I for- 
give that person that sin? Is it possible that God of 



222 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

heaven gave me, a sinner, omnipotent power — a power 
that none but Christ ever wielded? "Oh God!" said I 
within myself, ''If the church has not this power, I have 
not got it from her bishops; and not only I am lost, but all 
these poor confiding sinners who come before me." It 
was a good thought. It made me have recourse to what 
God said about salvation in his own inspired word. I 
began to read it privately; found it easy of interpreta- 
tion. I found that the doctrine of confessing sins to 
priests was nowhere taught in the scripture. I could 
find no foundation for this practice from the acts of the 
apostles. Then I said to some of my brother priests 
confidentially, ''Why, do you not know that we have no 
authority from the sacred Scriptures for hearing the sin's 
of our people. Christ never taught it. The Apostles 
never practiced it. If they did, it would be recorded in 
the acts of the Apostles or in the Gospel, or in the 
Epistles. But no, there is not a single instance. They 
never taught us anything about the mass. The Apostles, 
nor their followers never said a mass. Nor did they 
teach anything about a purgatory, or about baptism 
being a saving ordinance, or about priests not marrying. 
I read that Peter was a married man, and inferred that 
if he were leader of the other Apostles, and the first pope, 
then our present popes, bishops and priests, who pretend 
to be his successors, are living contrary to Apostolic 
rules and discipline." 

The more of the sacred Scripture I read, the less 
faith I had in all the doctrines of the church, because 
they had no sanction from God's word. 

I earnestly ask you to have recourse to God's word 
for the truth. It cannot deceive you. The word of the 
church does deceive you. You never see the pope who 
is the head of your church. His word and rule of faith 
is in Italian and Latin, but you don't understand either. 
Those who translate it for you are liable to err, in the 
translation, or in the explanation of it from the altar. 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 223 

Priests are but men, aild not very smart, or religious 
men. As guides, they are unsafe. 

Why take them and their doubtful teaching in pre- 
ference to the plain, simple Gospel of Jesus which He 
gave to be a rule for all? "Search the Scriptures." We 
are commanded to investigate for ourselves, and not be 
led by any man. 

If priests are the saviours of the soul, and necessary to 
forgive and retain sins; are they not sometimes liable to 
abuse that power, and forget or wilfully refuse to grant 
pardon to the sinner? In that case, if the sinner die, 
how is he saved? If in deadly sin, he is lost, and the 
priest is the ultimate cause of his damnation. Would a 
God, good and merciful entrust our salvation to sinful 
creatures, like ourselves? 

Who knows whether the priest absolves or not? He 
pronounces the words in Latin, but not one in five thou- 
sand of the common people knows Latin. They there- 
fore, do not know whether he says all the essential words 
or not; and if he do not say them all, there is no absolu- 
tion, according to the church's own theory. But very 
frequently it seems that the priest does not pronounce 
all the words necessary in the form. His tongue is often 
too thick from the effects of liquor. He is often too 
sleepy from the same cause to hear the sins of the 
penitent; and if he does not hear them, according to the 
same rule of the church, the sins are not pardoned. The 
same may be said of baptisuj. You are aware that the 
church teaches that the intention to do as the church 
does, is necessary in the priest, when baptizing; and that 
if the infant is not baptized, that it never enters heaven. 
Butitisnosecret tomany of my readers that the priest 
has too frequently been noticed so much under the in- 
fluence of the false spirit, as to be entirely unfit to form 
an intention, or go through the ceremonies in a proper 
manner. Such a child baptized in this way, is forever de- 
barred from heaven, and the cause of its exclusion is the 
intoxicated priest. Would right reason, would the 



224 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

human sentiments of your own heart persuade you to be- 
lieve that an-all-wise and merciful God would commit the 
salvation of immortal souls to any body of men, liable to 
err and cause the eternal loss of all? Oh no! The best 
impulses and dictates of the heart, given us by God, repel 
the very thought! 

Let us be true to our selves and to God, and honest- 
ly put His word before the word of any church. God 
can save us, but the church is able to save no one. The 
church does not encourage you to search the Scriptures, 
because you would iind out that her doctrines are not 
taught therein, but, on the contrary, are condemned as 
contradictory of the Written Truth. The church tells 
you you can't understand the Scriptures, and in the same 
breath says they will injure you? How can they injure 
you if you do not understand them? Why does she 
select some texts here and there that she thinks may up- 
hold her peculiar system, and tell you to repeat them in 
your catechism and Christian instruction, if they injure 
you? She adopts for you such passages as: "Thou art 
Peter and upon this rock I will build my church, and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The church is 
not consistent to permit you to even memorize such 
passages without allowing you to read other similar 
verses that would help you to see that the church is 
built, not on Peter, as a pope, but on Jesus Christ, the 
only one foundation. The church forbids you go to the 
Bible for the truth. She claims to have it all and more. 
She discourages you to seek information from the sacred 
Scriptures, because she well knows that you would find 
in them how sinners are saved. 

You would find that sinners are "justified by faith, 
and not by works . " You would read these words which 
would undermine her sacraments, her mass, her penances 
and her priesthood: "Neither is there salvation in any 
other for there is none other name under heaven given 
among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12.) 
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtaifis. 225 

saved." As the little child casts itself in trust and faith 
on the care of its earthly parent, and is protected when 
walking, hard by the most dangerous precipices, so is 
the faithful child of Jesus protected and saved by the 
merits of His atonement and death. He who believes 
and repents, leads a holy life. "By theh'fi-uits ye shall 
know them." 

Christ has provided salvation for all. It is your 
fault if you refuse it. "How shall we escape if we neg- 
lect so great a salvation?" (Heb. 2:3.) 

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him 
that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for 
righteousness." (Rom. 4:5.) 

Believe these sayings of Christ. Trust Him. Ha\^e 
direct access to him by faith. He can do more for you 
than any priest. Priests cannot heal themselves when 
sick. They cannot save themselves. This is patent from 
the fact that they send for other priests to hear their 
confessions and give them the sacraments. If they can- 
not save themselves, how save you? 

Don't believe everything the priest says. Priests 
are not saints. The more you know of their private 
lives, the less you think of them. They deceive one an- 
other, and they deceive you. Their object is to not let 
you know too much, as that detracts from their rever- 
ence and assumed power. Trust implicitly Jesus Christ. 
You have nothing to risk by doing so. He will not cast 
you off. "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast 
off." You have no excuse about confessing to Him. He 
is God over all, and is able to see you, and hear you, and 
forgive you, whoever you be, and whenever you call 
upon Him. Who has called upon the name of the Lord, 
and has been disappointed? None. Go to Him direct- 
ly in faith and confidence, when burdened with sin. He 
invites you. "Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden 
and I will give you rest." 

The priests don't want you to go directly to Jesus 
Christ. They tell you that you are not holy enough. 



226 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

But Jesus declares that you are, and that he came to seek 
and to save sinners, not holy persons, or self righteous 
people. "Whosoever will," Christ says, "let him come." 
Now, if every one can come to Jesus, surely you can 
come. The priests want to uphold their papal system; 
but it would soon fall to the ground, if you read the 
Scriptures, "proved all things, and held fast to that which 
was good." It is the priest's interest, therefore, to keep 
you in ignorance of God's rule of faith, the Holy Scrip- 
ture. Shall you obey the priest, or Jesus Christ? You 
yourself are to decide the question. 

The Bible is for you. God gave you a mind to un- 
derstand, eyes to see, and ears to hear, and a heart to 
love. Shall you sacrifice these powers and organs to the 
will of sinful ecclesiastics, and disobey the Saviour, our 
"only mediator between God and man?" The priest did 
nothing for you. He can do nothing now for you. 
Christ did everything possible for you. He shed his 
sacred blood on the cross for your redemption. Is it 
not all powerful to atone for your sin? "The blood of 
Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth from all sin." 

Christ offered up himself once for all as a sacrifice 
for your sin. It is all-sufl&cient. You, therefore, need 
no other mock sacrifice of men called mass. It is an 
insult to Jesus Christ to believe in such outlandish 
ceremonies when He has made full atonement. 

Purgatory is a priestly invention. The scriptures 
nowhere make mention of any middle state. There is 
none. There cannot be; and since there is none, it is 
the height of folly to believe in its existence; and 
especially to pay money for masses to redeem imaginary 
souls therefrom. The mass can benefit no person except 
the priest, into whose pocket it puts the dollars and 
cents, and makes him, with other secret revenue, as rich 
as a Jew and as proud as King Herod. Purgatory and 
the wafer are two fertile sources of revenue to the priests 
and bishops. The one causes them to be held in awe 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 227 

and reverence; and the other yields a rich harvest of 
dollars. 

Be no longer duped by these would-be mediators. 
They have kept you and your forefathers in bondage for 
over one thousand years. The mark of the chain is 
around your necks. Instead of being the only true 
church on earth, the scriptures point to the Romish 
church as the "Man of sin, the son of perdition, who 
opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called 
God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in 
the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." 

It is on this beast, this "Man of sin," that you have 
all these years been depending for salvation! 

Don't ask priests, or the church, to do for you what 
you can do yourself. Pray for yourself. God hears 
you, and will grant your request, if it be for your own 
good. "Call upon me and I will answer thee and show 
thee great and mighty things w^iich thou knowest not." 
(Jer. 33:3.) "Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye 
shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you." 
(Matt. 7:7.) No church, or creed, can save you. Faith, 
a living faith in Christ, can do that. Have you yet 
accepted Christ at his word? If not, now is the time. 
To-morrow may not be yours. While death is certain, the 
time of it is very uncertain. The only time we are sure 
of is the present moment. Why put off until to-morrow 
what can be done to-day? If we die to-day how shall we 
appear in judgment if not clothed in the righteousness 
of the Lord Jesus Christ? "By the works of the law 
shall no flesh be justified." If, therefore, we can't be 
saved by works, and if we have not accepted Christ as 
our personal Saviour, how shall we stand in judgment? 

"Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." "Behold 
now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of sal- 
vation." Let us go now to Christ for salvation, and 
whatever be our creed, or former belief. He will accept 
us here and hereafter, when all believers shall hear from 
the blessed lips of the Redeemer: "Come thou good 



228 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful 
over a few things, I will place thee over many. Enter 
thou into the joys of the Lord." God grant that we 
may put on Christ, and on the last day be found in Him, 
and be joined with the great family of the redeemed — 
Amen. 



1 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 229 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

How TO Convert Roman Catholics. 

Can Roman Catholics be converted? Yes. We 
have numerous witnesses of the fact. We have thou- 
sands of converted Roman Catholics who are now worthy 
citizens and examplary members of the various Protest- 
ant churches. 

How are they to be converted? What is the means 
we must employ to bring them to Christ? Present them 
with the gospel. "It is the poAver of God unto sal- 
vation to every one that believeth." It is the quicken- 
ing, transposing, enlightening power of the Holy Spirit. 
It shows the way to Christ — the true way, the truth and 
the life. "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think 
ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of 
me." It holds up to our vision the invitation of the 
Saviour of men. "Come unto me all ye that labor and 
are heavy laden and I will give thee rest." It shows no 
other way than that by Christ. "I am the way, the 
truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but 
by me." 

We cannot come to Christ by Romish dogmas and 
sacerdotal sacraments. They are not the way. They 
are the wrong way, because opposed to God's way. 
Human creeds never can regenerate the soul. The Holy 
Spirit of God must do that. If we take the wrong route 
to New York we never shall reach that metropolis of the 
nation except we change our course and turn to the 
right way. If we follow the letter of the law and not 
its spirit it will never land us in heaven. 

Offering up a sacrifice of a wafer of bread, and 
attending early mass on Sabbath mornings and receiving 
that wafer won't save one. No church, minister or sac- 
rament can bring us to heaven. That is a personal, an 
individual thing between the soul and spirit. Each one 
must go to Christ personally by faith, receive Him, trust 



230 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

Him, accept the merits of His atonement. One man 
can believe no more for or save another here than lie 
can live and die for him; but no priest can live or die 
for you or me here. We have to do that each for him- 
self. Therefore, each must believe on Christ for him- 
self and be saved as an individual, not as a collective 
body of a church. "Whosoever believeth on Him shall 
not perish but have everlasting life." Not all men. 
"Whosoever will let him come and take of the waters of 
life freely." 

It is necessary to instruct Roman Catholics in the 
way of salvation. Their way of trying to do right differs 
infinitely from ours. Their way is by doing and then 
believing, while ours is by believing and then doing, as 
a result of our faith. Their way is, "Do what the Roman 
Catholic church does and thou shalt be saved." Ours is, 
"believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be 
saved." Let us show them that our way is God's way, 
because laid down by his inspired standard, the infallible 
Word. "The just shall live by faith." "By grace are 
3'e saved thro' faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the 
gift of God." And, "By the works of the law shall no 
flesh be justified." ''Not by works lest any man should 
boast." 

There is a right and a wrong way of doing business. 
There are false and there are true doctrines. False 
doctrines are of men, and lead to false practices, and 
false practices lead to unholy lives, while faith in holy 
doctrines lead to holy practices and righteous lives. If 
going to mass on Sunday, if going to confession on 
Saturday evening to a priest, if abstaining from meat on 
Friday, etc., make people holy, which I do not believe, 
Roman Catholics ought to be saints. I never believed 
it. These duties only reform and restrain the people 
for a short time. A man may go and confess his sen- 
suality, his adultery, his fornication, his theft, and the 
result may be that he will not commit these crimes for 
four weeks again. But that is not saying much for his 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 231 

holiness of life. That does not convert the man. That 
does not make him a new creature, a child of God and 
heir of neaven. He returns to his vomit again. Why? 
Because he is not converted; because he is not a Chris- 
tian; because the spirit of Christ is not in him. He 
gets not the new heart and the upright mind. He is 
not of God, "for he that is born of God doth not sin." 
He is depending on the arm of flesh, and is doing and 
believing in the wrong way. * 

There is a right and a wrong way of curing a dis- 
ease. Those who go to confession to a man, and do 
penance in view of driving away their sins, imitate the 
man curing his head of ache with liquor. They are 
sinking deeper and deeper by a repitition of sins, and 
insulting Jesus Christ and despising the merits of his 
sacrifice of the cross. 

Show them the way the early Christians believed 
and confessed to God. Confessional box never was the 
way to get rid of our sins. It is not the way now. 
Christ never taught it. The Apostles never practiced it. 
But Christ would have taught it, and his disciples prac- 
tised it, if it were in God's plan of ^Ivation. 

The sinner was at all times in the early churches, 
and ever since in the Christian churches, pointed to 
Christ Himself for mercy and for pardon of sin. No 
Apostle ever assumed such a divine prerogative as 
that of forgiving sin. Did Peter? No; when Cornelius 
met Peter and fell down at his feet, Peter said to him, 
"Stand up. I myself also am a man." Did he order 
Simon Magus to confess to a disciple or to himself? No. 
He directed him to God to ''pray for pardon and repent 
his wickedness, so that, perhaps, the thoughts of his 
heart might be forgiven him." Did Paul? No; when 
the jailer asked: "What must I do to be saved?" he said: 
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be 
saved." Peter, James and John point to Christ as the 
only absolver of sin. John says: "If any man sin we 
have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 



232 Fifteen \ears Behind the Curtains, 

Righteous" (1 John 2:1). If we confess our sins He 
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse u& 
from all unrighteousness." The He and the Him every- 
where do not refer to any of these, but to Jesus Christ, 
the Saviour of men. Therefore it is to Christ the 
people of God had recourse. Therefore it was to Christ 
that the sinner went by faith for remission of sin. 
Therefore it is to him that you and I and every one of 
us must go 'f or forgiveness,, because we are all sinners; 
we are all, no matter how much good we do, the unpro- 
fitable servants who come short of the glory of God, 

It is only holy people, regenerated people, who can 
enter God's kingdom, but confession to a priest makes 
men unholy by being an inducement to sin. How can 
it make men holy when it teaches equivocation, that a 
man may lie for a good end, and that the end justifies 
the means? How can it sanctify when it teaches that 
the penitent may appropriate to himself his master's 
money privately to compensate for extra work or for low 
wages? How can it justify when the penitent is en- 
couraged to take what does not belong to him, if he has 
not the intention o4 stealing, but of restoring it at some 
future time? This doctrine of intention is like this: A 
man went to confess to a priest; when entering an ad- 
joining room he took the priest's gold watch and chain, 
not to steal but, just to keep it. "I took a watch and 
chain said he in the confessional. Here, 1 want to give 
it to you." "Well," said the priest, "give it to the 
owner." "Your reverence, I ofiered it to the owner, but 
he would not take it." "Then," said the priest, "you 
may keep it yourself." 

To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the un- 
converted we have to expose every doctrine, creed and 
superstition that comes in conflict with it. Every man, 
woman and child ought to preach the gospel. "Preach 
the gospel to every creature." Every one has got the 
commission to go into all the world and proclaim the 
tidings of great joy — that Christ is the way of salvation. 



£ifice7i Years JJehinJ ihc Lu/ lams. 233 

That in him is the forgiveness of sins. "It is a faithful 
saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ came 
into the world to save sinners." 

We ought to emphasize the passage: "But to him 
that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifieth 
the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness." To 
explain these texts to the unconverted, especially it may 
be obligatory to trample on the idols, to break the pocket 
gods and to burn the images. We must to be true to the 
gospel, to God, to our neighbor and to ourselves, con- 
demn the papal bulls, ecclesiastical doctrines and every 
superstition that conflicts with God's infallible word. 

Let us show Roman Catholics that the sacraments 
are for them just as much as for the priest. Show that 
they have access to Christ just as readily as the priests, 
and frequently more so, because their lives are holier. 
Show the difierence between "repent'' and "do penance." 
Show them the meaning of the word "baptize." Show 
them the meaning of the word "church." They make a 
building an institution into which all may come and be 
saved by its power. They believe that in the church is 
salvation; outside the church damnation. The murderer 
in the church is saved, while the infant, as pure as the 
ether of the heavens, if not baptized, is outside the 
church, and is consequently lost. Outside the church, 
i. e., the Roman Catholic church, there is no salvation. 
They fail to make a scriptural distinction between be- 
lievers and non-believers. All outside the Roman Catho- 
lic church are considered non-believers, while all inside 
are called believers, no matter how they get there. 
Roman Catholic church denominates murderers, thieves, 
&c., if not Romanists, Protestants. This is unjust and 
uncharitable to Protestant christians everywhere. 

To reach Roman Catholics with the gospel involves 
many difficulties, both from within and without. Rome 
never did take well to schoolmasters; and to approach a 
people, in view of their conversion, who have been 
accustomed to believe that their church is the one and 



234 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 

true institution of Christ on earth, — a church that 
possesses all knowledge, wisdom and infallibility, is any- 
thing but encouraging. At every step we meet with 
stubborn opposition. For them to come to us for infor- 
mation on the gospel, is to expose themselves to anathe- 
mas, excommunication while living, and deprivation of 
christian burial after death. It means that their corpse 
will not be permitted to lie at rest in the holy clay of a 
consecrated cemetry, but be cast outside the fence, while 
the soul is sent to purgatory, if not to the other place, 
lower down. It is no wonder, then, that it is so difficult 
to induce them to visit our churches, our meetings, and 
lectures. Heretical worship must be avoided by them 
under pain of condemnation. But all places of worship, 
not Roman Catholic, are denounced by them, as hereti- 
cal. They are taught from the catechism, from the altar 
and from the confessional, and from the prayer books, 
that it is the sin of sins to listen to heretics or participate 
in their worship. 

People accustomed in their houses of worship to 
gaze on golden images, and silver virgins, amid burning 
tapers and fragrant flowers and incense, say when they 
enter one of our places of worship, "Oh, how cold ! no 
St. Patricks, no St. Peters, no holy mothers of God, no 
nothings." Gods that one can see with the naked eye, 
and feel in the vest pockets; appear nearer and more 
consoling than the contemplation of an invisible, im- 
material God, the maker and ruler of the universe. 

Let us reach out to our fellow creatures, the 
Roman Catholics, in the spirit of true love and sym- 
pathy. Let us not pass them by while wounded 
and bleeding, under the sins and errors and superstitions 
of the papal systems. Consider their circumstances, 
their trainings and influences that are brought to bear 
on them. This will prosper the efibrts of our ministry. Visit 
them; invite them to visit your church; if they don't 
come, send them some good tracts, send them a good 
book; drop into the mind some good seed, when and 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. - 235 

wherever opportunity presents itself. If we don't as- 
sociate with them, we can't know them, or sympathize 
with them. 

Pray for them ; set them a good example, they ap- 
preciate exemplory lives, they appreciate and respect the 
word of God. 

Let them see in our lives what they don't see in 

their own people, the living Christ, the walking epistle. 

Pray for them at home, at church, at prayer meetings. 

This will bring us nearep one another, and nearer to 

God. 

Whatever we say, or do, let us do it all in the spirit 
of Christ, in true charity. "Though, I speak with the 
tongues of men and angels, and have not charity I am 
become as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." 



236 Fifteefi Years Behind the Curtains. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
Female Popes. 

In another chapter we have had a glimpse at some 
of the popes of the masculine gender and their abom- 
inable lives. Herein will the names of a few females 
who steered the bark of Peter in stormy times over 
tempestuous waters of ignorance, lust and murder. The 
Roman Catholic church seems to discount woman. The 
hierarchy always endeavored to degrade her in the home, 
in the church and in society.. Most Roman Catholic 
men lord it over their wives in a manner unknown to 
Protestant husbands. " The husband is head of the 
wife," is taken by Roman Catholicism in its literal and 
physical sense. The wife is not only to keep silent in 
the church, but often in the house when her "head" is 
around. The husband looks on her too often as a non- 
entity, a nominal part of himself, that is all absorbed in 
him as head of the house. She is frequently compelled 
by her tyrannical head to act the " Tom-Pinch " before 
him, and like the squaw of the redskins, licks the hand 
of the big Indian buck that strikes her. 

Are women not as holy as men, in the home, in the 
church, or in society \ Are they not as religious, pious, 
faithful ? Do they not shudder at crime that men perpe- 
trate without the least feeling of remorse ? Are they 
not the pious sex of the church of God % If a man is 
pious enough to be pope, what prevents a woman from 
filling the same office ? She has as much commission 
from Christ to be head of the Roman church as Pope 
Leo the Thirteenth has. When the Saviour of men 
commanded his disciples to go forth and preach the 
gospel into all the world, and to every creature, the 
women were included, for some w^ere present on that 
memorable occasion. Hence a woman has a right to be 
pope, if she is elected and fit for the position. The 
women were never born who wovild make worse popes 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains, 237 

than Pope Alexander the Sixth, Pope John the Elev- 
enth, Boniface the Seventh, Benedict the Ninth, and no 
less than a score of others whose lives are too infamous 
for the historian to record. These popes have been so 
black and their characters so foul that they cannot be 
portrayed. They defiantly, exulting in their self -right- 
eousness, the delegated vicars of God, went through the 
streets of Rome linked, arm in arm, with strumpets of 
the lowest type. These harlots made and unmade popes. 
All principles of modesty, religion and justice were 
trampled under foot. 

Marioza and Theodora, daughters of the lewd Mar- 
chioness of Tuscany, were for a long time the virtual 
popes of Rome. They were the "devils that lurked 
behind the cross." They ruled and ruined their brethren 
of the popedom. Though not actual reigning popes, 
they made the popes and deposed them at will. Before 
these mistresses the popes of the opposite sex fell help- 
less victims of carnal love. These women had only to 
speak, and the popes, bishops and archbishops obeyed 
their mandates. They had only to desire, and the popes 
accomplished their will. To see a pope conquered as 
Sergius was in the lewd embrace of a brazen prostitute, 
without any regard to how the faithful people felt about 
it, obHged many to say in those days: " The nearer to 
Rome, the farther from God." Bishop Arnold of Orleans 
had grounds for crying out as he did about the disorders 
of the papacy: '* Oh, miserable Rome! Thou that for- 
merly didst hold out so many great and glorious lumina- 
ries to our ancestors, into what prodigious darkness art 
thou fallen, which will render thee infamous to all suc- 
ceeding ages." 

But one real woman pope was Joan, under the name 
of Pope John the Eighth. Several Catholic writers, 
among them the Jesuits, in their histories and articles 
to cyclopaedias, endeavor to make out the woman Joan 
Pope a fictitious pope, a false pope. But it is conceded 
by some of our best Roman Catholic authors that Joan 



288 Fiftee7i Years Behind the Curtains. 

was really a pope and reigned in masculine attire for 
two and a half years without being detected as a woman. 
Marianus Scotus, a monk of the abbey of Fulda in the 
eleventh century, makes mention of her as the Joan 
Pope, called John the Eighth in disguise. A child was 
born to this female pope, as she was on her way in a 
grand procession to the Lateran Basillica, and the pains 
of labor were so severe that she died on the public street. 
Many Protestant writers have been led by the Jesuits to 
believe that Pope John the Eighth was another pope 
altogether, and that he was really a vit^ a homo (a man). 
Whatever may be said of her as being a false pope, one 
thing is certain, and that is that she far surpassed her 
successors in morality. Joan, or John the Eighth, was, 
after all, a comparatively good pope. It is stated on 
good authority that Charles the Bald was crowned by 
this woman pope, John the Eighth. The Catholic histo- 
rian, Du Pin, says of this female pope: "This pope, 
according to Platina's reckoning, which is accounted the 
truest, is John the ^inth, for John the Eighth, Pope 
Joan, of whom the Roman church is so much ashamed 
that they leave her blotted out of the catalogue of their 
popes; for though they allow their popes too many 
women, yet they will not endure to hear of a woman to 
be pope." There is little doubt but that Emperor Louis 
the Second received the imperial crown from the hands 
of Joan. The Roman Catholic authority, Baronious, 
sa3^s: "Thus, according to the most authentic and un- 
exceptionable testimony, it is demonstrated that Pope 
Joan existed in the ninth century; that a woman occu- 
pied the chair of Peter, been the vicar of Christ on earth, 
and proclaimed sovereign pontiff of Rome." The ene- 
mies of this female pope could say nothing worse of her 
than that she was a false pope, a fictitious person, come 
to Italy in male attire, became distinguished for her 
learning and wisdom, and was duly elected to the papal 
throne. The finger of scorn, though, could not be pointed 
at her as it could at Pope Benedict the Ninth, who was 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 239 

so notoriously wicked on account of his rapes, murders, 
drunkenness, blasphemies and robberies, that he was 
hooted out of the city, and forbidden to ever return. 

Now, while there have been upwards of thirty bad 
popes as wicked as k!^ergius the Third, John the Eleventh, 
Stephen the VII and Alexander the Sixth, yet most 
Roman Catholic writers uphold their lives and their 
reigns as honorable and holy, in comparison with that 
of women. Some of the Romish historians and theolo- 
gians admit that a woman pope did reign two and a half 
years, as a wise, learned man, and as long as the church 
didn't know of the imposition, it was all right, and that 
for these two and a half years there was in reality no 
pope in the church. It therefore follows from their own 
admission that the church was able to get along without 
a pope for that time, and, if this be so, why could she 
not get along for double that period, five years; and if 
five, why not ten; and if ten, why not twenty, forty, 
eighty, one hundred and sixty years, and all the time ? 
If not, how many years could she paddle her own canoe 
without a pontiff? The church must know, if her head 
is infallible. But this she does not define. 

Let any one think for a moment; could a good and 
merciful God appoint such a system as the popedom to 
be for us a guide, a way and a channel of grace to bring 
us to heaven ? Could such adulterers, murderers and 
harlots be a way of salvation % God forbid that we har- 
bor the thought for a second I 

To follow such guides, and believe in such doctrines 
as command us to follow them as guides in faith and 
morals, is the height of folly and blasphemy. We should 
never give up a certainty for an uncertainty. The papacy 
has proved itself a stumbling block in the way of salva- 
tion, in the way of truth, holiness, progress and ciyiliza- 
tion. It is not of God. It contradicts his word and 
makes it of no avail by setting up its own standard. 
Christ says: "I am the way." The pope declares that 
he is the only way. Christ says his word is to be our 



240 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

guide and our light. The pope says outside his Romish 
teaching there is no salvation. 

Whom are we to believe \ Christ or the pope % 
The apostles or cardinals ? The disciples or Romish 
bishops ? The people of God or Romish priests ? But 
the former never taught any of the papal dogmas. Christ, 
his apostles and the inspired word all condemn them, 
and point to faith and repentance as the sole conditions 
of eternal life. Why not follow these teachings of Christ, 
of Peter, of Paul, of John, of James, and of all the holy 
men of God? We would run no risk; but in following 
Rome and her traditions and pagan doctrines we risk 
all — our immortal soul and everlasting happiness. 

But to follow the true head of the church, Jesus 
Christ, we never can be deceived. He is infallible. His 
word, our guide and rule of faith is infallible, and we 
are promised an accompanying infallible teacher, the 
Holy Spirit. Christ, by his spirit, is with every obedient, 
faithful reader of his word, and will continue with him 
all days, even unto the end of time. "Every one that 
loveth is born of God and knoweth God." (1 John 4:7.) 
Those who follow Christ and believe his word have the 
Holy Spirit to teach them all things necessary. This is 
evident from Paul to the Ephesians: 

^'That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father 
of Glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and 
revelation in the knowledge of him." (Eph. 1:17.) 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 241 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Questions Unanswered. 

Out of thirty-two questions put to the Paulist 
fathers at the Cathedral, this city, by the writer, only 
one was partially answered. In this chapter I will 
reproduce the interrogations which Avere printed at the 
time in the Ainerican Sentinel, and personally addressed 
to Father Elliott, the leader of the Paulist band of 
papal agents. 

The Paulists considered some of the inquiries about 
their religious doctrines too unholy to be replied to. 

For instance they refuse to say much about the host, 
that is the wafer of bread, on the ground that after con- 
secration by the priest it is really the substantial and 
material flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. 

If it is an irreverence to the wafer to ask for light 
on the subject, what great irreverence must it be for 
priests to permit its dust, and sometimes particles, to be 
devoured on the altar by cockroaches, ants and grubs? 

I have seen the host dishonored and neglected by 
priests in the tabernacle until it decomposed. I have 
seen priests in debauchery, intoxication and riot ascend 
the altar, say mass and eat the wafer in that terrible 
state. Is that not a greater sacrilege to the wafer than 
to make honest inquiries about how and when it becomes 
the flesh and blood of Christ? 

Is it not a graver sin to submit the wafer to a 
drunken sot than permit it to be swallowed by an indus- 
trious ant that observes the laws given it by its good and 
merciful Creator? I have known priests to carry the 
host to the sick, and fail to administer it on account of 
their semi-conscious state. I have known them to return 
home with the wafer and repose with it in the vest 
pocket all night. The Paulists know these things as 
well as the writer, but to nourish and perpetuate their 
superstitions on an humble and ignorant people they 



242 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

declare that questions about the holy sacrament of the 
altar ought not be replied to, because the wafer is the 
holy of holies, and its essential molecules of flour and 
water are beyond the comprehension of finite mortals. 
These replies may satisfy most Catholics, but they will 
not meet the demands of an inquiring and intelligent 
public . 

The following is published in our monthly magazine: 
''A few of the Paulist fathers, tools of the pope, 
from New York, have been delivering lectures around 
Pittsburg for some time. The lectures are given in the 
Roman Catholic churches and town halls. Their object 
is to convert Protestants to Romanism. But, for so far, 
in the neighboring towns, and in this city, they have 
utterly failed to make a single convert. It is true they 
picked up a few people "of the world" who never 
belonged to any church, and don't know what conversion 
is. These want to be carried and fed as to both soul 
and body, and that the Paulists promise to do. In a 
word, they promise to bring them to heaven. But these 
Paulists do a great injustice to the Christian churches 
by publishing the names of these unconverted people of 
the world as "converts from Protestants." They are no 
more Protestants than Romanists are. And the Paulists 
kOught to know by this time the difference between 
Christians and non-Christians. 

Many questions have been put to the Paulists about 
the doctrines of their church, and most of them are 
answered satisfactorily to Romanists. The majority of 
the questions are from Romanists themselves, under 
disguise of Protestants. This is the height of insincerity 
and deception. But deception in making converts to 
Romanism has always been the method of the papal 
church. The apparent satisfactory replies these tools of 
the pope make to the Romanists who put questions in 
the inquiry box pretending to be from Protestants, are 
intended to throw dust in the eyes of the latter, and if 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 243 

not to convert them, at least, to make them more partial 
to the Roman creed. 

At one of the towns where I lately lectured the 
Paulists were lecturing across the street, and were asked 
questions to which they did not offer any reply. One 
question was: "If infants ought to be baptized, and if 
the lawful mode is by sprinkling, why did Christ post- 
pone baptism for thirty years; and why was He 
immersed?" — No answer. 

To the leader of the Paulists, Father Elliott, we 
hereby submit the following simple questions, which he 
will please explain to his new converts": 

Q. 1. — Why does the Romish church denounce 
those who leave their system as "bad men," and call 
them holy men and holy priests the day before they 
leave? 

Q. 2. — At what moment do they become bad? Is 
it while in the church; or is it after they leave — how 
long before they leave or how long after? 

Q. 3. — According to Romish doctrine the priest 
saying mass does not only represent Christ, but is really 
Christ himself during the sacrifice. Now if the cele- 
brant is intoxicated, how is Christ affected by the act, or 
is it a mass or not? 

Q. 4. — If the priest sin Avith a female penitent from 
his knowledge of her circumstances received in the con- 
fessional, can he forgive her the sin to which both are 
parties? 

Q. 5. — When and where did the apostles and dis- 
ciples teach and practice auricular confession? Please 
give chapter and verse in the Roman Catholic Bible. 

Q. 6. — Prove that the Apostle Peter was not a 
"heretic" on account of his anti-Roman doctrine and 
practices? 

Q. 7. — Give historical and scriptural proof that 
Peter was at Rome, and who made him pope? 

Q- 8. — Is the Virgin Mary in all places at the same 
time? 



244 Fifteen years Behind the Curtains. 

Q. 9. — When a harlot pope reigned in Peter's 
chair, and when the notorious monster popes, Sergius 
the Third, John the Eleventh and Alexander the Sixth 
occupied the holy see, were they really trae infallible 
popes, or was the church during these periods without a 
pope? 

Q. 10. — Why does a priest spend more time in the 
confessional box hearing a woman's confession than in 
hearing a man's? 

Q. 11. — Why do the convents not publish the entire 
statistics of the death list each year of infants at their 
institutions, giving the cause of death and names of 
parents, etc.? 

Q. 12. — Why do the monks shave the crown of 
their heads and wear the collar wrong side front? 

Q. 13. — Why is every priest sworn at ordination; 
and why is every bishop sworn at his consecration to 
persecute heretics to the utmost of his power? 

Q. 14. — Why are drunkards, adulterers and mur- 
derers, who go to the priests to confession before dying, 
hurried inside the consecrated lots in the cemetery, while 
infants who die without baptism are interred outside 
the holy ground? 

Q. 15.— Why did Father Elliott, of the PauHsts, say 
to a good Christian lady of the M. E. church, of Pitts- 
burg, that John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was 
a good man, who, he knew, is now in heaven, when the 
Roman church law to which Father Elliott swore 
obedience, says: "Any one separated from the Roman 
Catholic church, however praiseworthy a life he may 
lead,by this crime alone, that is by his separation from 
the Roman Catholic church, he will he debarred from 
eternal life, and the wrath of God will remain upon him." 
Which of these statements is right. Father Elliott's or 
that of the fundamental law of his church? 

Q. 16. — Can one truly converted to the gospel of 
Christ be ever afterward converted to Romanism, or can 
a man be converted twice? 



Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 245 

Q. 17. — Why are immoral and intemperate priests 
and people never excluded from the church for their 
crimes? 

Q. 18. — Why is the mother of an infant considered 
by the church impure and defiled until she goes to the 
church and is purified by the priest? 

Q. 19. — Explain the difibrence, if any, between the 
worship of the Madonna and that of the golden calf? 

Q. 20. — Since Father Elliott knows that John 
Wesley is in heaven, will he tell us where Pope Alexan- 
der the Sixth is? 

Q. 21. — Why do the Pagans in their worship go 
through many of the Eomish ceremonies with holy 
water, blessed tapers, incense and seamless vestments? 

Q. 22. — Why does the Romish church put celibacy 
above purity? 

Q. 23. — Explain why members of Protestant 
churches are more intelligent, sincere and moral than 
members of the Roman Catholic churches? 

Q. 24. — Tell us why Protestant nations are more 
progressive than Roman Catholic nations? 

Q. 25. — When and where did Christ or his apostles 
institute and teach the doctrines of the sacraments of 
"Confirmation," ''Penance," "Eucharist," "Extreme 
Unction," "Matrimony" and "Holy Orders?" 

Q. 26. — Explain why the popes have established 
the Inquisition in difierent countries, where they held the 
balance of power; and why they co-operated with Roman 
Catholic Spain in putting to death nearly 15,000 people, 
because suspected of heresy? 

Q. 27. — Does Roman Catholic theology not teach 
that a servant may steal from his employer to remu- 
nerate for extra work, or compensate for underpaid 
services? 

Q. 28. — Why is the percentage of illiteracy greater 
in Italy than in China? 

Q. 29. — Where is there any authority from the 



n 



246 Fifteen Years Behind the Curtains. 

scripture that we should pray to saints and worship their 
relics? 

Q. 30. — Why do the superiors of nunneries and 
convents protest against an inspection of these insti- 
tutions? 

Q. 31. — What passage in the Sacred Scripture tells 
us that the pope is a successor of Saint Peter and head 
of the church on earth? 

Q. 32. — Where does the Bible teach that the Virgin 
Mary is the refuge of sinners and the Queen of Heaven, 
and that we are to pray to her for pardon and divine 
grace? 



A dvertise vient. 

WORKS NOW PUBLISHED 

By rev. J. DONNELLY. 



fifteeii Years BeWiid tlje Gurtdlns. 

Embodying a Personal Experience of so many 
Years in the Eoman Catholic Priesthood. 



Over thirty chapters on important doctrines and 
valuable experience, 



Paper, - - $ 75 
Cloth, - - 1 00 



One of the best works out on Roman Catholicism. 



What the Press Says of the Author : 

* * He thinks and writes with wonderful clearness ; he does not 
rant, nor is he abusive." — Thornley, Journal and Messenger. 

'• A man of candor and earnestness, clear and pungent in style 
and language." — Pittsburg Commercial Gazette. 

" The spirit of the man is admirable. He is not a sensationalist, 
nor a vehement denouncer." — Dr. W. A. Stanton, N. Y. Examiner. 

* * His opposition was not to Roman Catholics. His objection 
was to Romanism." — Pittsburg Times. 



Advert is erne fit. 

WORKS NOW PUBLISHED 

By rev. J. DONNELLY. 



Faith Once Delivered Uqto the Saiqts, 

Giving Some of thej First Thoughts That 

Led the Author Out From the 

Roman Catholic Church, 



* ' It is one of the best things of the kind that I have ever seen 
to put into the hands of the Romanists." — Dr. W. A. Stanton > 
N. Y. Examiner. 

" It is exceedingly fitted for the work you intend." 

— J. H. Ngrris, pastor, Presbyterian church, Pittsburg, Pa. 

"Not to malign, to asperse, to discredit the church or her 
officials, but to enlighten and help her followers does he speak.'' 
— GrEO. T. Street, pastor, Mt. Washington Baptist church, 
Pittsburg, Pa. 



Post Paid 15 Cents. One Cent Postage Stamps received. 

Letters to the Pope, 

With Other Invaluable Documents on the Rom- 
ish Church and Its Practices. 



In sets of 12 numbers, near 400 pages, per set. $1.00. 



" They meet a great want, and lay bare some facts in regard to 
practices in the Romish Church that do not often appear in print , 
but which should be scattered as the autumn winds scatter the 
falling leaves." — American Sentinel. 



Any of the above books forwarded on receipt of price . 

Address— J. DONNELLY, Lupton St., Pittsburg, Pa. 



Advertisement. 



PIITSBURG EfiNGELlGAl fMl 



PITTSBURG, PA. 



It is Supported by Voluntary Contributions. 



OBJKCT : 

First. To preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ — to 
present to the unconverted, especially Roman Catholics, 
the Word of God by tongue and by pen in a kind and 
loving manner. 

Second. To establish a Christian Home in Pitts- 
burg, where advice and protection from persecution may 
be given to Romanists, of good standing, leaving that 
church and moved by the Spirit to seek Salvation 
through Jesus Christ. 

J. DONNELLY, Pastor. 

W. T. BOWN, Treas., GEO. T. STREET, SecV, 

Liberty Ave. and 13th St., Cowan St., 

Pittsburg, Pa. Pittsburg. Pa. 



REFERENCE AND ADVISORY COMMITTEE: 

Rev. Geo. T. Street, Pastor, 

Mt. Washington Baptist Church, Pittsburg, Pa. 
J. H. Norris, Pastor, Presbyterian Chnrch, 

G-rand View Ave., Pittsburg, Pa. 
W. T. Bown, rierchant. Liberty Ave. and 13th St., Pittsburg, Pa, 
R. H. Hood, Pastor, United Presbyterian Church, Pittsburg, Pa, 
Prof. C. R. Coffin, Park lastitute, Allegheny, Pa. 
O. H. P. Graham, Pastor, Methodist Episcopal Church, 

Sycamore St., Pittsburg, Pa. 



Advertisement. 

A house of worship is intended to be erected as soon 
as sufficient funds are subscribed for that purpose. 

All having the promotion of this cause at heart are 
respectfully invited to forward their donations to our 
treasurer. 

iFrom the American Sentinel.l 

The Evangelical Mission. 

"The Pittsburg Evangelical Mission ought to be 
established on a solid foundation. Its object is to advise, 
protect and aid Koman Catholics of good standing aban- 
doning Romanism and seeking salvation through Jesus 
Christ. What more praiseworthy work can be done than 
to thus aid our neighbors, the Roman Catholics, to aid 
themselves? The help extended would not be to carry 
them so much as to help them to carry themselves. If 
such an institution were established where the word of 
God could be regularly taught and preached, and where 
those leaving Rome could be properly examined, and if 
acceptable, to put them on the right way to be in touch 
with Christian influence and Christian people. 

Let some of our wealthy business men, blessed with 
temporal gifts in abundance, remember to set aside some 
of those gifts God has intrusted to them for a brief 
period. Let them give freely, while living, for the up- 
building of this great work, and remember it when dying 
in their last testaments and wills. 

Supposing some of our millionaires and semi-mill- 
ionaires would occasionally lessen the bill of their 
extravagant suppers and Bacchanalian banquets, and 
hand it over to the benefit of this mission work, many 
an humble prayer from down-trodden Catholics who 
would come out from Rome, would go up to God in 
grateful feelings for the good, generous examples of 
charity these benefactors left behind them. 

Let some of our benevolent, wealthy citizens make 
their donations as soon as possible for this Avork. A 
thousand dollars may do more good while one is living 



Advertisement. 

than five thousand dollars would do after death. One 
has the consolation of seeing and knowing how it is spent 
and the good it accomplishes. 

Many priests and people might come out of Kome 
in this part of the State if they knew of some home and 
some Cristian friends to take them by the hand to 
welcome them in the step towards Christ and his gospel. 
It would prove on the other hand one of the most deadly 
blows that can be given Romanism in Western 
Pennsylvania." 

Churches and Societies are requested to com- 
municate with Rev. J. Donnelly, who is a regularly 
ordained minister in charge of this work. 

He preaches and delivers lectures wherever invited, 
provided due notice is given. 

Address all communications 

^ J. DONNELLY, 

Lupton street, 

Pittsburg, Pa. 



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